The Prince of Atlantis High
by Takara Phoenix
Summary: Nico is a social outcast at Atlantis High. Percy is the golden boy, star of the swim-team, always with a brilliant smile. To hide the abuse from his stepfather Gabe. What happens when Percy is assigned with Nico as his tutor so he won't have to drop out of the swim-team because of his bad grades? What will Nico do when he learns the truth? Nico/Percy slash Nicercy
1. Chapter 1

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 1: Humans See What They Want to See_

Long, golden curls bounced with every step, framing her body and making her look like an angel. Her dark, gray eyes sparkled with amusement as she shifted the books in her arms. Her stride was determined as she descended the stairs and left Atlantis High. Everyone she passed smiled at her and greeted her friendly, some whispered in awe. She knew what they whispered.

Girls wanted to be like her, wanted to be her friends and boys wanted her.

Annabeth Chase, the princess of Atlantis High. Head of the student council, best student in all subjects, beautiful and charming. A kind-hearted leader who always had an open ear for everyone.

When she had been new at Atlantis High, the two first friends she had made were Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace. Sometimes she wondered if she would have befriended them knowing what it would entail to befriend the king and the queen of this high school. The quarterback of the football team and the gorgeous, strong-willed cheerleader. The golden couple of the school. They had taken her under their wings, which had brought her the nickname 'Princess of Atlantis High'.

Luke and Thalia were the perfect couple with the perfect smiles. But they would graduate this year.

"Hey, Annie. How was the meeting?"

Annabeth gave the boy waiting for her at the foot of the stairs a brilliant smile and practically melted into his arms. He was perfect. She knew he was perfect. Perseus Jackson. The perfect boy. He had transferred starting this year, only a couple of months ago, and just like her, he had been taken under the wings of Luke and Thalia. He had the most amazing, open and emotional eyes in the most mesmerizing shade of bluish green, his smile was so radiant, it could light up a whole room and his skaterboy charm that screamed trouble also made everybody love him in that 'he's a good boy at heart'-kind of way. He had everyone wrapped around his little finger the moment they looked at him. He had soon become the captain of their swim team – making it just as successful and trophy-winning as the football team under Luke's leadership. It had not been a surprise when within months Percy had become the golden boy, the so-called Prince of Atlantis High.

"It was wonderful. If only Reyna and Clarisse wouldn't argue that much", laughed Annabeth.

She placed a chaste kiss on the corner of his lips, more so for the bystanders to coo over. He gave her a small smile and laid one arm around her waist, steering her off the school property. The problem with being the prince and the princess was that everyone had high expectations of them. Even though they had a student council (which Annabeth was the leader of, after all), everything of importance was still run by Luke and Thalia first. Nothing happened without their heads-up. But with Luke and Thalia graduating this year, most of the student body expected Annabeth and Percy to take over. Being Luke's and Thalia's little darlings, the kids they had helped getting settled, had guided and taken under their protection, they were expected to be the next Golden Couple.

Percy was a strong athlete, Annabeth was the smartest girl around. Both were stunningly beautiful and known to be compassionate, helping newbies with their problems. Annabeth knew that they could easily be the perfect Golden Couple others saw in them. If only they had feelings for each other. Well, Annabeth had feelings for Percy. He was like that adorable little brother she always wanted. _That_ was the problem. Her home-life had always been a little strained, with her strict stepmother that had never really warmed up to her. So Thalia and Luke had become like a second set of parents to her, as they had taken care of her and made sure that she had a place in this school, had not become the nerd outsider she used to be in Junior High. And Percy, her Percy, was like the little brother she giddily tried to guide after Thalia and Luke had taken him into their 'family' too.

Still, people expected her and Percy to be the next perfect couple. And the fear of what would happen if they disappointed the masses was what had driven her into his arms. As the couple left, they passed the dark corner of the parking lot where the so-called Misfits always hung out. Annabeth's eyes swept over the four teens. They were weird loners, as most simply put it. Wearing black and leather, smoking, only sticking to themselves. Their inofficial leader was Nico di Angelo, a lanky, olive-skinned boy with dark eyes, always wearing a skull-belt-buckle to keep the black skinny-jeans up, a skull-motive also on his black shirt. Next to him stood Lou Ellen, the black and purple dressed (and dyed, if looked at the hair) punk glaring daggers at Annabeth for staring at them. Shuddering slightly, Annabeth turned to look at the last two members. The reason why Annabeth was dating Percy. The only openly gay couple at their high school – Alabaster and Ethan. They had lost all social status after they came out, lost all ties to their former friends and had been on the receiving end of more beatings than Annabeth cared to know about.

She was gay. Annabeth was a lesbian. But she could never lose what she had gained here. The respect, the influence, the adoration from everyone. If anyone was to know of her sexuality, she would be dropped like a hot coal just like they had been dropped. But unlike them, Annabeth never wanted to end up with the Misfits. Everybody knew they didn't care about anything. They were crude, impolite and according to some rumors also involved in some illegal stuff.

"How about we have pizza today?", asked Percy with one of his bright smiles. "My treat."

"Well, when you're paying, always", grinned Annabeth back, turning her full attention back to him and ignoring the Misfits. "How was your day anyway? Was training good?"

The sound of his happy voice was more like a background noise, the fearful buzzing in her head, sounding an awful lot like a chant of theycanneverknow, in the forefront of her mind.

Being high school royalty was amazing. She bathed in the attention, she loved being a role-model to others and the proud way Thalia and Luke looked at her made it all worth it. Even if it meant giving up who she was. High school would only last two more years and once she was out of it, once she would be away from the prejudiced, narrow-minded teens, she could finally be who she wanted to be, who she truly was. Sometimes, she felt guilty for using Percy like this. As her safe cover. But the boy was so innocent, she doubted he had ever even thought about any kind of sexuality. Which also made him the safe bet. With him, it was only holding hands and chaste kisses and he never questioned her. He never wanted more. It sometimes made Annabeth question if perhaps, he was like her. Gay. Or if he was truly that oblivious to sexuality. Whatever it was, Annabeth was grateful for it. Because she was safe and he was nice and together, they were perfect. She had to be perfect.

/break\

The black leather coat was hugging Nico's frame perfectly. Not that it made all that much of a difference, what with his black shirt and his black jeans. Most didn't look at him twice anyway, he was like a black blur in the corner of their vision. Not that he minded. It was his intention, after all.

When he had first come to this school, he had started out as a bad boy. Black leather, dark smile. His hair was always wild, untamed. Olive-skin and the fitting Italian accent, a modern mafioso they had called him. The cheerleaders had swooned over him, he had joined the football team and was well-liked. It was easy making people like him. Everyone wanted a piece of his bad boy image. There were only few who he truly cared about and one of them had been Ethan Nakamura. But after Ethan came out as gay, with his boyfriend Alabaster, the Japanese boy had been bullied out of the football team by the sheer pressure of nearly the whole school. A silly prank had ended with Ethan losing an eye, which had been the reason for him to drop out of the team and out of all social contacts. The only ones he still let close – and also the only ones who still wanted to be close to him – were his boyfriend Alabaster Torrington and Alabaster's younger sister Lou Ellen Torrington. And Nico. Because being liked by a group of bigot jerks was not worth losing his best friend.

Now it was them against the world. Or, well, at least them against the high school. Then again, for teenagers like them, the high school _was_ the world. The four of them kept away from anyone, not caring about the 'highly important' social order of their school. They didn't care about Castellan, Grace, Chase or Jackson. And how dare this bunch of misfits defied their cherished leaders.

So that was what they had become. The Misfits. Nico liked it. It had a nice ring to it – and it was his favorite TV show. He had never really cared what others said about him, as long as they stayed away and didn't dare hurting him or his friends.

"Fucking golden couple", snarled Lou Ellen and elbowed Nico before stealing a cigarette.

"Hey", grunted the Italian with a glare before following her line of sight.

The Juniors, as Nico had dubbed them in his head. The next Golden Couple. A student council president that turned two blind eyes on the fact that Ethan had lost an eye to an ill-intentioned prank. Nico gritted his teeth and glared at her spitefully. He hated Annabeth Chase with a passion. The head of the student council could _change_ things, but if anything, she made sure that things stayed the same, that every decision the council made was still first approved by Luke and Thalia. His nearly black eyes wandered from Annabeth to the boy she was clinging to and without his consent, his eyes softened a bit. It was an impossible thing to hate Percy Jackson, regardless of how much he tried it. But Percy hadn't done anything different from Nico, he had joined a sports team, made friends. And unlike Nico, Percy never had a reason to doubt Luke or this school in general. In a perverse way, Nico hoped Percy would never get a reason to doubt. Because the honest innocence in those quite amazing, bright eyes should never shatter. Nico mused that Percy was what he could have become, if he had stuck with the masses and not abandoned them for Ethan's sake. All the pressure, all those people hanging off his every word, adoring and worshiping him. Nico shuddered. He didn't even want to imagine a life like that. That was not his style. But it suited Percy well.

Perhaps there was more to Nico leaving his social contacts behind to stay with Ethan, because he was just as gay as his best friend. And he was sexually attracted to Percy Jackson. Lou Ellen called it a crush. Alabaster teasingly called it 'love at first sight'. Nico didn't believe in such a thing. Someone couldn't just fall in love by seeing another person. He deeply believed that love depended on the personality and all those to others annoying quirks that only the partner could adore. He knew of no such quirks. Well, aside from how Percy pushed his hair out of his face whenever something got uncomfortable for him, or the way his eyes were more blue than green when he was happy and more green than blue when he was sad. Or how his lips twitched into a crooked half-smile whenever he was feeling guilty for a prank the Stolls had gotten him involved in. But that was nothing and he was certainly not in love with the captain of the swim team. He was not in love with the golden boy, the pride and joy of the school Nico hated so much.

/break\

Percy winced slightly as he stared wistfully into his now empty wallet. There went this month's pocket money. And it was only the fifth of the month. But Annabeth was his girlfriend and if he got the gist of it right, he was supposed to go on dates with her and invite her to dinner and such. Besides, she deserved it. She was slaving away for the school in the student council and she still had the time to spare to be with him. She was kind and sweet and listened to him. She never made him feel stupid, even though she sometimes called him that, but when she did it, she did so in an affectionate voice and that was okay. He was used to being called stupid. He had ADHD and was dyslexic and generally not all that keen on learning, so he had always been a bad student. Had always been called stupid. By teachers, by other students. But when he was with Annabeth, she made him feel like he was clever too, she always told him that, in his very own way, he was brilliant too. He was still trying to figure out in which way that may be.

Annabeth was sweet and she deserved to be treated like a princess. Not because of any stupid nicknames they had gotten from their fellow students, Percy couldn't care less about these weird traditions of the school. No, solemnly because she was genuine. She was nice to him, she had accepted him into this school and for the very first time in his life, he had found a place where he belonged. With Annabeth and Luke and Thalia. And Annabeth had introduced her friends to Percy. Out of all the schools he had been kicked out of already, this was the first where he had found friends, friends who liked him and who he could hang out with. Friends who made him feel like he belonged, like he was worth something. Like he wasn't a freak.

Taking a shaking breath, he took his keys out and unlocked the door, praying to every deity of every religion that may be listening that his stepfather wasn't home. The day had been so nice and if perhaps Smelly Gabe won't be home, then Percy could just be home and pretend the man didn't exist and that his life was nice. Just once. Only for a couple of hours.

"Look what the cat dragged in", snarled a nasty voice. "Where have you been, freak?"

Percy dodged the empty beer bottle with years of training. For a fleeting second he thought how if beer bottle dodging was an Olympic discipline, he would get gold in that for sure.

"I was in school", answered Percy timidly, gripping the strap of his backpack tighter.

"Don't be a wiseass", snarled his stepfather irritated and stood slowly. "We both know you're dumber than dirt, brat! I know your schedule. You were supposed to be home in time to make me dinner, you useless shit. You better get started, I'm starving."

Percy averted his eyes and walked past the man that had been his stepfather for more than ten years now. Without another word, he walked through their small, dirty living room – empty bottles of beer and remains of dips and chips everywhere, Percy knew he had to clean Gabe's mess up before his mom would be home – he entered the tiny kitchen. His mom worked, practically all the time. She took every opportunity to get extra hours, trying so hard to earn enough money to bring them through. But Gabe spend most on booze and gambling. Which only made Sally Jackson work harder. Percy smiled slightly at the thought of his mother. She was the kindest, most generous and wonderful person on this planet. And she was the only reason he had never tried to run away from home, because he couldn't leave her alone.

"Big brother! You're home! I missed you!"

Percy grunted slightly at the force of his little brother hugging him tightly. Technically seen, Tyson wasn't his brother. Percy had found the boy in the streets about two years ago. Bureaucracy took quite some time, checking for relatives and where he had come from. An orphan. The only reason Gabe allowed him to stay was the money they got from the state for taking in a foster child. Tyson was both, a blessing and a curse at once. He was such an adorable child, only eight years old. Percy liked taking care of him, liked having someone who looked up to him. With his mom working all the time, it was nice to have one friendly face at home. But as much as Tyson relieved the pain Percy felt within, as much was the boy a hindrance. Just another reason why Percy would never be able to get out of this shithole. Another person he couldn't abandon. And Percy _hated_ when he had to leave Tyson alone with Gabe, fearing for the small child. So far, Percy had managed to protect Tyson. As long as Gabe's focus was on Percy and as long as Gabe was satisfied – with beer in one hand, the remote in the other and a plate of hot food in front of him – he didn't care what the kids did. It meant more work for Percy and less time to himself, but he would do anything to protect Tyson. He gladly took what Gabe dished out, as long as it never hit Tyson.

"Hey, Ty", smiled Percy softly and went onto his knees. "How was school?"

"Boring!", exclaimed Tyson with a broad smile. "But now it's over and you're here!"

"What are you brats so loud for?! Do I need to come over and shut you up?!", screamed Gabe from the living room. "I'm trying to watch my fucking game, you little shits!"

Percy flinched, and so did Tyson. It was more than mimicry, Percy knew that. The smaller boy had seen Percy getting beaten by Gabe often enough by now to know what that tone of voice meant. Staring teary-eyed up at Percy, Tyson hugged him again.

"Go to our room and play some, Ty", whispered Percy softly. "But play silently, yes?"

"Okay, big brother", agreed Tyson obediently and left the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath to keep it together, Percy straightened his back and got to work. This was something he could do, something no one could take from him. He knew how to cook. With his mom's long shifts, he had learned his way around the kitchen at an early age. Because one of his earliest lessons had been that a satisfied Gabe was a Gabe that won't beat him.

While working on Gabe's dinner, Percy tried to distract himself with thinking about other things. About school. School was a good distraction from home. Whenever he was at Atlantis High, he felt as though home was just the fleeting memory of a nightmare. He loved Atlantis High with all of his heart, it was the first place that made him feel safe and like he belonged. He loved Luke and Thalia and Annabeth for being the protective, big siblings he had never had. For accepting him and giving him a place in their little, perfect world. There were things he still didn't understand about this school, even after half a year of attending it. He had understood the most important parts, the parts that had applied to practically every school he had attended so far. The cheerleaders and the jocks ruled the place, especially so the captain of the football team, Luke Castellan. And his girlfriend, the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Not head of the cheerleaders, which had highly surprised Percy at first – how dare this school broke the cliche like that! It had made Annabeth laugh softly before she explained that the head cheerleader, Silena Beauregard, was the girlfriend of the co-captain, Charles Beckendorf. That relieved Percy at least a bit. Still with a jock, then. Not defying the natural order of high school. Another one of those soft, amused laughs from Annabeth. He liked that she laughed about his stupid jokes and wasn't condescending about how flat they actually were. He liked a lot about her. Especially that he could cuddle with her and hold her and be her 'boyfriend' without her demanding more from him. All he wanted, all he craved for, was human contact and comfort and even without knowing, Annabeth provided that by being his girlfriend. After the first couple of months, Percy had started to believe that Atlantis High was where he could be himself. But then Annabeth had explained to him about the Misfits – and what was it with this school and their stupid labels and nicknames? How two of the boys had become social outcasts just for being gay. Percy knew he could _never_ be gay at home. Gabe would downright kill him for being a 'dirty, little fag'. So it wasn't hard to adapt. Just another thing more that he couldn't tell people about. He was good at keeping secrets and even better at lying to people. Plastering one of his brilliant smiles on and telling people that he was fine. He knew there were things he could tell no one.

That he was gay. That his stepfather was verbally and physically abusing him. That he felt worthless and useless, because not even his own father had wanted him, had abandoned him and his mother before he had even been born. That he hated all the responsibility of others constantly asking his opinion on stupid stuff at school, just because he was their 'Golden Boy'. That all he really wanted was a strong guy to hold him and tell him that everything was alright, that _he_ was alright and that he was loved. That even though everybody saw him as the gold-medal winning captain of the swim team and Prince of Atlantis High, he really just wanted a knight in shining armor to waltz in and rescue him from the monster known as Smelly Gabe.

"Your dinner is ready", whispered Percy barely audible as he placed the plate in front of Gabe.

"Took you long enough", snarled Gabe viciously. "Now get out of here."

Nodding hastily, Percy was relieved that the smell of food had managed to distract Gabe from him. Fleeing to his and Tyson's bedroom, he practically threw himself onto his bed right away. Curling together in himself, he closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing for a change. Not thinking would be nice, it would mean he wouldn't have to think bad things either. A small body pressed against him and he opened his arms to hug Tyson close. A whiny sound followed and Percy could feel the wet nose of Mrs. O'Leary, their pet dog, press against his ear. The three of them curled together to a huddled mess of limbs, but it was okay. Because Percy loved them.

/break\

Luke loved his peers. They had a game tonight, out of town, so only the football team and the cheerleaders had tagged along. Not that he minded too much, his ma never had the nerve to come anyway. Crowds freaked her out and made her... delicate condition worse.

When everybody cheered for him, their star quarterback who had just won the game for them, the team lifting him up onto their shoulders, the cheerleaders running over to them, squealing delighted, his eyes caught with dark crystal blue ones. They stayed locked, even as he was put down.

"You were amazing, Luke", whispered Luke's girlfriend and he reluctantly broke the gaze.

Instead, he looked deep into hers. Blue too, but not so cold and calculating as the others, not, hers were warm and like an electric shock. Her messy, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Thalia Grace, his best friend ever since he could remember, his childhood sweetheart. The love of his life.

"Only thanks to you and your girls cheering us on like that", grinned the jock, pulling her close.

She leaned in and kissed his jaw and his eyes trailed past her once more. Locking with crystal blue ones. A smirk, amused and ridiculed, tugged on the lips of the owner of those eyes, before the eyes closed briefly. The other vanished in the crowd, not bothering to even join the celebration and congratulate Atlantis High's Giants, as their football team was called. Luke didn't even bother scanning the crowd again, he let his friends, his _team_, tug him along as they went to celebrate their victory together with the cheerleaders. Not that anyone had doubted their success. They always won, because _Luke_ never failed. He was the perfect leader. He led them to victory. He'd never let anyone doubt him. He was strong and determined. Crystal blue eyes followed his retreating form.

/break\

"I can't believe you're really dating _two_ jocks", sighed one of the cheerleaders – Drew.

She sounded pretty jealous as she glared over at a golden-eyed beauty with chocolate skin. They were in the locker room, getting changed and showered before heading out with the team for the proper celebration of their victory. The golden-eyed girl shrugged casually.

"I can't believe they're not bashing each other's heads in in jealousy", pointed Lacy out.

"They're best friends", shrugged Hazel casually. "Leo and Frank have no problems sharing."

Because they love each other too – but that was kept silent. Everyone saw her as some kind of great seductress, having two hot jocks at her beck and call and not even in secret, no, the boys knew of each other and wow, she must be good in bed to hold them both. She smiled a little to herself. No one needed to know that when she was too busy to hang out, Frank and Leo were more than happy to keep each other company. And by 'company' she meant things got dirty and heavy.

"What about you, Pipes?", asked Silena, their captain, curiously. "We can still break Reyna's jaw?"

"It's not like she _stole_ Jason from me, Silly", counted Piper, a gorgeous native American girl with blue strands in her hair. "They had been together first, broke up because they're idiots and now they're back together because Jay and I didn't work out. That's the end."

"Right", snorted Drew and rolled her eyes. "I'd break that girl if I were you."

"Well, I just want Jason to be happy and we weren't a good match", shrugged Piper casually.

"I'm sure there's another hot blonde around for you", offered Juniper sympathetically.

"How about Will?", suggested Kayla eagerly. "He's cute enough and sweet."

"Yeah, I... don't know. He's not really what I'm looking for", muttered Piper embarrassed.

He liked them blonde, yes, but... Jason was lacking some serious things. Like curves. Especially up above. Her face heated up at the thought of one gorgeous, blonde princess with _quite_ the curves.

"I think Piper already has someone in mind", teased Nyssa with a grin, causing the others to laugh.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: I wanted to put a new spin on the social-outcast!Nico and golden-boy!Percy plot that had already been done dozens of times. I hope my version will be appreciated. ;)<em>

_Next chapter will have Nico being assigned as Percy's tutor because Percy's grades are gradually getting worse and if he doesn't change it, he'll have to quit the swim-team. Which is not happening. Even if it means having a tutor. Both parties are not very happy about it (but the story is set on changing that ;3)._


	2. Chapter 2

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo, Zerberus

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 2: The Best People Have the Rottenest Luck_

Percy was tired and bored out of his mind. At the same time, mind you. Gabe had beaten him up late afternoon yesterday and Percy had barely been able to sleep at all. Then he had to get up too early to go to work – at a local coffee shop, before school. And now he was in the most useless class of them all. History. What did he care how people in the past had screwed up?

"Mister Jackson, you forgot to hand in your homework. Again."

Urgh, the teacher. Percy groaned and looked up. The problem was the teacher, because unlike most other teachers who were so blinded by his smile and by how everyone at school worshiped him, other teachers cutting him slack because he was one of the top athletes at school, no, unlike them all, Paul Blofis still believed that there was a good student stuck inside of Percy. There was not.

"I must have forgotten about it, I spend all day yesterday with training for the next tournament", replied Percy with one of his standard bright smiles. "I'm very sorry, Mister Blofis."

"Sorry doesn't always cut it, Mister Jackson", stated Paul, looking at him disapprovingly.

Nico snickered to himself at that. He loved Mister Blofis for not always letting everything slide with those jocks. Alabaster was grinning too as he nudged Nico a little. Sadly enough, that got Mister Blofis' attention and the teacher got that thoughtful look on his face as he stared from Percy to Nico and back. Somehow, the Italian had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well for him.

"Your test-results in the past few weeks had been less than pleasant either", started Paul slowly. "If your grades keep slipping like that, you're going to fail my class. Which means no swim-team."

Nearly the whole class made protesting noises at that. Percy was their star-swimmer. Without him, the team would be lost. And they had so many trophies thanks to Percy, they couldn't start losing.

"I would have a solution for that", drawled Paul, looking nearly mischievously.

"Everything!", exclaimed Percy hastily and sat up some.

"You'll take tutoring sessions with a tutor I will assign to you", concluded Paul pleased. "Once a week. Mister di Angelo, how does your afternoon look today?"

"Cramped. Really cramped. I have all this... stuff to do", huffed Nico with a glare. "Why me?"

"I think a little social contact won't hurt you", smiled Paul brightly. "That aside, you'd earn some bonus-points. It'll look good for college applications, Nico."

"I'm sorry for your loss", mouthed Alabaster with a wicked grin.

Mister Blofis had complained a lot that Nico always only teamed up with Alabaster and didn't interact with his other classmates. Apparently, the good teacher had found a solution for this. Nico glared and his glare darkened when those innocent, large, sea-green eyes turned onto him.

"Hi", started Percy softly, offering a shy smile. "I'm sorry you're getting dragged into this..."

"Whatever", grunted Nico, glaring at the still smiling boy until the smile _finally_ faltered. "I'll meet you in the parking lot after school. We're doing this at your place, since it's your mess."

Percy was all smiles, all the time. And Nico hated it. It was probably the only thing he _truly_ hated about the innocent boy. Not because he was a grumpy emo, as some liked to call it, but because he knew those smiles were fake. He knew they weren't real and if there was one thing Nico hated, it was lying. And that was what those smiles really were. Lies. He wanted to see the real Percy beneath all the fake smiles and maybe even a real smile some time. Though now Percy looked somehow horrified. Now that was strange. Then again, maybe perfect, little straight-boy was scared to bring a gay guy home? Not that mommy dearest and daddy dearest may disapprove! (Nico pictured the Jacksons like that all-American family, going to church on Sundays, baking cake together and all that jazz. The ridiculous, perfect little family.)

/break\

Percy was sitting by the bleachers, together with Annabeth, Malcolm, Octavian, Rachel and Grover. Octavian and Malcolm were board-members of the school board with Annabeth. The three blondes were sticking their heads together, planning some kind of charity baking sale thing or another, Percy wasn't really listening. He was still trying to digest that he was supposed to spend the afternoon with Nico di Angelo, in his apartment. He wasn't sure what he was panicking about the most. No, he didn't give a dime about any rumors of Nico being a mafioso or thug or whatever. Nico wasn't a bad guy, he just didn't like popularity. Or people. Or socializing. Or anything involving color. There was an entirely different aspect of Nico di Angelo that made Percy nervous. Percy was a well-behaved boy, who did everything everyone always expected of him and the fact that Nico didn't give a shit about what others expected of him, the fact that Nico was a bad-boy, it was incredibly intriguing for Percy. On a level that wasn't healthy considering that Percy had to be straight, so what if Nico caught on with Percy's physical attraction to the olive-skinned, clad-in-black bad-boy with the hot Italian accent? The other thing frightening Percy was the possibility that Gabe may be home. Even more horrifying than others knowing that he was gay was the thought that others could know about what happened behind closed doors at his home.

"You still on for the movie tonight?", asked Grover suddenly, startling Percy.

Grover was Percy's best friend. "Movie? Right. With you and Juniper and Annie... Sorry, I can't. I got stuck with tutoring sessions. Mister Blofis thinks it's a good idea."

"Why haven't you told me yet? I'd need to check my schedule first", frowned Annabeth bothered.

"Not you. Mister Blofis assigned a tutor for me", sighed Percy and shook his head.

/break\

Nico was leaning against his fancy black bike that his father had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday. Alabaster and Ethan were standing next to him, mainly so because Alabaster had told Ethan about today's afternoon activities and both found it hilarious to watch how Nico went off to his execution. They had a hard time not snickering when Percy Jackson came out of the school, looking all perfect and wonderful like always. Nico glared when he noticed Annabeth hanging off his arm and pecking his cheek before heading into the other direction.

"Hi, Nico", smiled Percy brightly, one of those annoying perfect yet fake smiles.

Others may swoon over them, but Nico saw right through them. He saw how fake they were and he could not stand it. He hated fakeness, which was why he hated this school so much. Tossing Percy a helmet, he startled the jock and make him frown curiously. That was an expression more appreciated, because it was honest and somehow that lost, confused kitten-look suited Percy.

"I have no fucking clue where you live. You could give me your address and explain where exactly it is and then you take the bus, I drive there faster and stand in front of your door of god forbid of your parents, waiting for you. Or you just hop onto Tartarus and tell me on the way", stated Nico.

Percy nodded stiffly and put the helmet on, thankful that it hid his blush as he watched how Nico pulled up the zip on his leather jacket, put on his own helmet – with skulls adoring it – and his leather gloves before climbing onto his bike. Percy knew that the only thing Nico valued more than his bike were his sisters – he had already seen Nico beat up people for touching either. So it felt kind of like an honor, in a weird way, to be invited onto it. He straddled the machine and laid his arms reluctantly around Nico's waist. Though once Nico started the bike, he automatically clung tighter onto Nico, pressing up against the other boy, fingers clawed into the leather jacket.

"Relax. I'm a good driver", grunted Nico, half-amused by Percy's grip.

Percy didn't reply. He just focused on the way, giving Nico the directions until they reached the apartment building. They had left the better part of the city and were in a poorer district by now. The building was tagged and looked old and in dire needs of renovation. Percy glared when he noticed the dumbfounded expression on Nico's face as both lifted their helmets.

"Not what you expected, huh? Not everyone lives in a castle, di Angelo", spat Percy annoyed, glaring when he noticed the look Nico gave him. "What? I know the name di Angelo and I've seen that giant mansion of yours on the news before too. Not everybody lives like that."

Nico flinched, a little guilty. So the golden boy didn't live in a golden cage, it appeared. He felt guilty for being shallow enough to expect the little house with the white fence. Wordlessly, he put the helmets away under the seat and took out his backpack again. Then he followed Percy up the eight flights of stairs. The elevator was out of service. The staircase looked no less shabby than the exterior of the hotel – Nico was pretty sure at one point he had heard gun-shots from one of the floors, but he blamed his paranoia. The apartment didn't get better either. The first thing that came to his mind was rat-hole. The wallpapers came off, the mismatched couches had cigarette-burns and weird stains that Nico didn't want to investigate. There were empty beer bottles next to the couches on the floor. Percy went to pick them up and throw them into a cupboard, muttering something along the lines of 'Fucking Gabe' beneath his breath. Nico entered reluctantly and closed the door behind himself, locking it out of paranoia. Before he could be stuck in awkward silence, a door opened and a little brunette boy came rushing out, running straight into Percy's arms.

"Big brother! You're home! I'm hungry! Mommy's working", exclaimed the boy excitedly before noticing the awkwardly shifting Nico. "Oh. Wow. He looks like Angel! Is he a friend?"

"Ty, that's Nico. He's here to study with me. Nico, that's my brother Tyson. I'm watching Buffy with him. He likes Angel a lot", explained Percy embarrassed. "Get... uhm, comfortable. I'll just go and heat up the left-over lasagna from yesterday. You hungry too, Nico?"

"Yay!", exclaimed Tyson and jumped up and down. "Percy's lasagna is the very most awesome!"

"Well then, if it's the very most awesome, I'll have to try it too", nodded Nico amused.

He followed Percy and Tyson into a small kitchen and sat down on one of the four mismatched chairs. At least the kitchen looked more homey than the living room and less... dirty. Like whoever was causing the mess in the living room didn't spend much time in here. Tyson sat down next to Nico and both watched how Percy went about, taking the left-overs from the fridge and putting them into the microwave before setting the table for three. Before he joined them at the table, Percy checked the calendar to see that Gabe was out for horse-racing today. Which meant he wouldn't be back before midnight. He sagged some in obvious relief.

"Listen, Ty. Nico and I, we need to concentrate on school stuff. That means I'll need our room. Can you go and play in the living room some today?", asked Percy softly. "I'll even let you watch your favorite movie, even though we both know you already had your daily time of telly this morning."

"But _The Little Mermaid_ is no fun if you don't sing...", pouted Tyson thoughtful. "But okay."

Nico blinked a couple of times and tried to shake the image of the glorious Percy Jackson singing 'Part of Your World' out of his head. This whole studying thing was already turning quite interesting and they hadn't even gotten close to studying so far.

/break\

Nico heaved a sigh and rubbed his face about an hour later. They had eaten together with Tyson and then they had retreated into the small bedroom that the brothers apparently shared. This was going to be a long day, that much was for sure. They had barely gotten started and Nico already felt justified in his claims that jocks were dumb, because... _really_. He turned toward the window which lead out the fire-escape and even as he stood, he fingered his cigarettes out of his jacket. Percy looked at him a little funny, so Nico rolled his eyes for good measure.

"Let's take a break", sighed Nico, opening the window. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Uhm... O...okay?", nodded Percy, still looking at him a little weird.

"Want one too?", offered Nico after a moment, one cigarette caught between his lips.

He was holding the package over to Percy, who looked completely scandalized. "We're minors!"

"Right", snorted Nico and lit his cigarette. "And you're waiting with sex until you're married too."

Percy blushed furiously and stared at him like a bunny caught in a trap. "I—I... I..."

Nico had to bite down on the cigarette to keep it from falling out of his mouth as he stared at Percy, completely stunned. "You're a _virgin_. Aren't you, Jackson?"

"That's completely none of your business!", exclaimed Percy with a heated glare.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a virgin", snickered Nico amused.

Honestly, it shouldn't surprise him that much. The boy was virtue wrapped into a tempting package. Though it also shouldn't _arouse_ him that much. Then again, he had to admit that he had spend an awful lot of time staring at Percy's ass in PE. The boy was gorgeous and Nico was only human.

"What's a virgin?", piped another voice in. "You wanted to let me watch _The Little Mermaid_."

Nico nearly choked on the smoke when suddenly, Tyson was in the middle of the room. Percy's face was aflame as his baby brother looked at him curiously. Percy stared and led his brother out of the room to put the DVD into the player. Nico used the time to look around more intensely, since staring had seemed inappropriate earlier. There was a shelve with very worn-out books and a few DVDs, an old laptop was standing on the table. One bed on either side of the room – one of them being a bunk bed, Tyson's bed. Beneath the bunk was a lot of space for toys. Opposite the window and next to the door was a single wardrobe that the brothers shared apparently. Honestly, Nico had never seen anything compared to this apartment and he was stunned that the prince of the school was more like a peasant, really. Percy's face was still aflame as he returned to the room.

"So I take it, the pretty, prude princess doesn't put out then", hummed Nico teasingly.

"Don't call me a princess!", hissed Percy embarrassed and annoyed.

Nico stared at him for about ten second before he burst into laughter. Much to his embarrassment, Percy blushed even darker at that. He had a lot of classes with Nico, had seen him on the school grounds a lot, but always gloomy, grumpy and dark. A wicked sneer or a mean smirk on his face, sure, but never before had he heard Nico's full-blown laughter before. And the sound was amazing. So carefree and happy and genuine. Percy was pretty sure he had never heard something more beautiful than that. And that included Nico's hot Italian accent.

"I was talking about Chase", wheezed Nico out as his laughter calmed down. "But good to know that you think you're pretty and prude. And good to know that you're the one not putting out."

"I'm just used to the teasing", muttered Percy beneath his breath. "And my relationship with Annie is none of your business, di Angelo. I think you're here to teach me about the relationships of this kind who collects the heads of his wives. Which is freaking me out _a lot_."

Nico nodded and put out the cigarette before returning to Percy and the books. They were laying on the floor together, shoulder on shoulder, as Nico tried to coax Percy into reading the text once more. Which was why he had suggested a break to begin with, because the jock just refused.

"What in the world is your problem?", growled Nico irritated when Percy once again feigned boredom and said how useless the textbook would be. "Just read the freaking text."

"I _can't_, okay?", admitted Percy after a moment, gritting his teeth.

"What... does that mean?", asked Nico confused and blinked a couple of times.

"I'm dyslexic. All this stupid reading is giving me a headache, I'm no good at it. That's why I'm failing history and probably also English I guess, because they're all about reading and stuff", said Percy and averted his eyes, glaring at the ground. "I can read, it's just... too exhausting."

Nico stared at him for a moment and Percy hated it. He knew the taunting, the laughter and how others would make fun of him for not being capable of something so incredibly simple.

"Okay", nodded Nico slowly. "Then I'll read the text out loud for you and we'll discuss it."

Percy turned back to him and stared at him in total awe, like he wasn't used to others just offering him help. Like Nico had just made some kind of grand gesture by showing him the easiest way. Nico dismissed it and pulled the book closer to start reading.

/break\

Nico was exhausted by the time he arrived back home. He was still baffled that Percy himself hadn't been bad company. He was fun to tease and once Nico read him the paragraphs, Percy wasn't too bad at memorizing them and understanding what was being said. He had given Percy his phone-number to contact him, because Percy had given some shady excuse about not knowing when he'd have time next due to training. Training was something scheduled. Nico guessed it had to do with Annabeth having him on a short leash or something. Whatever it was, it wasn't any of Nico's business. He went to their kitchen and grabbed the orange juice.

"Use a glass. You know your stepmother doesn't like it when you drink from the bottle", reminded him a dark voice from the other side of the fridge-door. "Nice of you to come home too, son."

Gulping down the juice, he put the bottle back into the fridge and closed the door. "Hello, father."

"Care to tell me where you were? On an important day like today", stated Hades seriously.

The tall CEO of Elysium Industries stared his son down curiously, causing Nico to gulp again and stare wide-eyed, completely stock-still. "Crap. I completely forgot. Oh no."

"Yes", nodded Hades sternly, looking down at Nico. "Now I'll go to Comic Con alone."

"No!", exclaimed Nico. "Come on. You're not serious, right? You bought a ticket for me too, right?"

Hades' mask broke and he chuckled lightly. "Of course I did. Though I'd love to hear what you have been up to today that made you forget _Comic Con_, of all things."

The CEO got comfortable at their bar and Nico went to join them. They had a tradition that had started after Nico's mother had passed. The two of them would go to Comic Con together, only the boys, as they liked to say it, since Bianca had applied for a girls-only boarding school back then and her leaving had hurt Nico even more additionally to losing their mother. Comic Con with his father had been their bonding time and the tradition had it that on the day the tickets were available online, they'd sit in front of the PC together and click the 'buy' button as soon as it was there. Nico grabbed the bottle of coke and two glasses before sitting down next to his father.

"School", shrugged Nico. "Mister Blofis assigned me as the tutor for Percy Jackson."

"Percy Jackson?", repeated Hades slowly, looking intensely at his son. "And this boy made you forget about Comic Con? You... know you can talk with me about those things. I may have been flustered about them at the beginning, I will confess to that. But you're my only son, so... if you have a boyfriend, you could talk to me about those matters too."

It took Nico a moment to process what his father was saying before he blushed. "Jackson is not my boyfriend. He's the captain of the swim team and no one wants the great jocks to have to quit their precious sports so as the best in Mister Blofis' class, I got assigned to help him out. That's all."

"If you say so", nodded Hades slowly, still looking over at his son skeptically. "Well, at any rate, I bought us two tickets. So Comic Con is saved. You're still up for our cosplay this year, right?"

Another tradition of theirs. Cosplay. Nico grinned wryly. Anyone who knew Hades di Angelo wouldn't believe that he'd do something as childish and nerdy as cosplay. But after having lost his second wife and then having his only daughter sign up for boarding school, he clung to the family he had still left. Many may think he was a cold-hearted bastard, but the fact that everybody thought this about him was what made him value family even more. Unconditional love.

"You bet your scrawny ass, boy", smirked Hades before he stood to go about his work.

Their very first cosplay had been Batman and Robin. Over the years, they had done a lot. This year would be Peter and Derek Hale from _Teen Wolf_, a show Nico's sisters had gotten them into actually.

/break\

Percy gasped breathlessly as he connected with the wall. He slid down it to sit on the floor, trying to avoid the kicks as a more than pissed Gabe stood above him. He knew Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary were cowering in the closet, they always did wen Gabe was in such a mood, Percy had taught them to. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever was to come.

"Why does it smell like _smoke_ in here, punk?", growled Gabe, giving him another kick. "And how come there's nothing of the fucking lasagna left? I've been looking forward to that all fucking day. And you ate it all, didn't you? Just to fuck with me, you useless brat!"

Percy cringed a little, but he was pretty good at covering up all other kinds of reactions he had to his stepfather's beatings. He had been so captivated by this afternoon that he had completely forgotten about any possible aftermath. Nico had smoked inside his room, Percy hadn't as much as objected by the third cigarette anymore, because Nico was being so... so... nice. Percy wasn't used to that, he'd do anything to keep that. Not that his friends weren't amazing and all, but that was in a different context. Nico had been completely calm and cool with Percy's disabilities, while his friends, albeit good-natured, liked to make fun of how awkwardly he read and how slow he learned. Not that they _knew_ of his dyslexia – he was too ashamed to admit to that out loud. In his last school, he had been made fun of because of it. A lot. Called all kinds of names, like it was his _fault_, like he was simply too dumb to read. But Nico had been completely fine with just reading out loud for him.

"I—I'll cook you something, something good", offered Percy after a moment. "But you got to let me get up f—for that. Not telling you what to do, but if you let me go now, you'll get food sooner."

"Don't be a wise-ass, punk", spat Gabe irritated and grabbed his beer.

He still did as Percy said and left the room. After a moment to catch his breath, Percy too stood. It was better to get the food done _soon_, because Gabe wasn't the most patient person after his third beer. First, he let Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary out of the closet though.

"I don't like that he hurts you", whispered Tyson upset.

"I know", murmured Percy and kissed the top of Tyson's head.

It was ironic, really. After all, _Tyson_ was the only reason why it still happened. Percy was older now, he could run away, but he couldn't leave his mom and Tyson. He could go to the police, but they'd never believe that his mother hadn't known any of this and then, Tyson and Percy would be taken in by the state. But Percy and Tyson weren't real brothers, there was no way the state would make sure that they could stay together. Tyson was an adorable, little kid. Parents would stumble over each other and try to adopt him. Percy was sixteen. Who wanted to adopt a sixteen years old? And it would _break_ his mother. The guilt, losing the children, everything. It had gone on for too long now to end it anymore. Percy was stuck and there was nothing he could do.

All he could do was concentrate on the nice things in life. As few as there were.

But _today_, today had been nice. Much to his surprise. Sure, Percy had been tutored by others – mainly by Annabeth – before, but no one ever really had enough patience for him.

Nico was... not what Percy had expected. Not that he had expected much, because he didn't like to judge a book by its cover. Just because someone looked like a punk and troublemaker didn't mean they had to be bad people, after all. Still, he wouldn't have thought that Nico had that much patience. Or such a handsome bike. Nico on a bike had been an interesting combination. Percy's face flushed at the thought of their shared drive. He had never been that close to another person before. Sure, he and Annabeth hugged, but not _that_ tightly. Being pressed all up against Nico's back, feeling the movement of his muscles and his warmth like that, it had felt weirdly intimate, if Percy was being honest with himself. Which, in itself, was kind of weird and freaky for the boy.

"Where's my fucking dinner, brat?!", called Gabe loudly, interrupting Percy's thoughts.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Since I'll get my copy of BoO today and I like to share the joy of reading with others, I figured I'd give you an update.<br>_

_A fair warning, this fic will be featuring supportive-superdad!Hades. Also, cosplay. Because I can._

_Next chapter, they'll have another tutoring session. This time at Nico's place, so Percy will spend a lot of time gaping (at half-naked Nico who is in the middle of working out when Percy arrives... for example). And Nico will start to suspect something is wrong when he sees a few bruises that don't make sense._


	3. Chapter 3

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo, Zerberus

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 3: Not Giving People a Second Thought, That Can be Dangerous_

Over the last three weeks, Nico and Percy had somehow come to the unspoken agreement that Friday, after school, they'd meet in the parking lot and go to Percy's place for tutoring. Fridays were perfect. Most Fridays, Gabe would be out for poker or bar tours, while the Chases had a family night so Annabeth didn't mind much. It was also the perfect excuse to ditch Luke whenever his mentor wanted Percy to attend some kind of party. But it was this day, three weeks after their first tutoring session, that Percy hit a brick-wall. He was sitting by the bleachers with Luke, Grover, Jason and some others from the football team, watching the cheerleaders train. Many of the football team had girlfriends on the cheerleading squad – Luke had Thalia, Grover had Juniper, Charles had Silena, Shane had Lacy. Percy grinned as he watched Travis, Connor and Chris pull some kind of prank on Jake. He wasn't part of the football team himself, but since he was close friends with most, he liked to spend any free period or recess that they got with them.

Percy couldn't help but stare at the beautiful Italian on the cheerleading team. Bianca really looked a lot like her brother. The tanned olive-skin, the dark tousled curls and the even darker eyes.

"Dude, if Annabeth catches you staring at another girl as intensely as you're staring at di Angelo over there, she's going to rip you a new one", noted Jason, nudging Percy amused.

"I—It's not like that", objected Percy embarrassed, glaring at the handsome blonde.

"Well, you're forced to spend a lot of time with her brother, guess you got to ogle her too, eh?", joked Travis, wiggling his eyebrows. "Saw her getting out of the show when you were over, huh?"

"Oh, naughty. Chase would kill him", laughed Connor next to his brother.

"What are you boys talking about?", asked Thalia as she and the other cheerleaders joined them.

She ruffled Percy's hair and sat down next to Luke, kissing her boyfriend on the corner of his mouth. Soon there was a lot of chatter all around Percy. He liked that, the more people, the easier it was for him to melt into the background. His sides still hurt from last night's kicking. He just wanted to lean back and sleep, really. So the more people there were, the busier they were with each other, not noticing him. It always gave him a moment of peace. He enjoyed those. At least until he noticed movement from the corner of his eyes. Bianca di Angelo sat down next to him.

"Hello", smiled the beautiful cheerleader, who normally didn't talk to him.

"Uhm... Hello?", nodded Percy confused, tilting his head some.

"You're adorable", laughed Bianca amused, patting his hair. "Thalia is right with that. Listen, my brother Thanatos is due to return from college for the weekend today, but... the idiot forgot his keys at his dorm. I was supposed to let him in, since our parents are at work and Hazel has a student council meeting, but Coach Beauregard scheduled a last-minute training."

"Thank you for all that information...?", tried Percy, completely confused at this point.

"You truly _are_ adorable", stated the Italian, patting his hair once more. "Your study-session with Nico is today. Since I can't be home, he has to. So... your study-session moves to our house. Here's our address, I hope you can find it? That won't be a problem, right? I'm sure you could move it to another day too if you'd prefer that. I'm just supposed to give you the message since Nico ditched the last two periods in favor of getting his bike fixed."

"Oh... uhm... okay...", nodded Percy slowly, staring at the piece of paper. "Sure. Thanks."

He couldn't really reschedule. Most of the week, Gabe was home and the weekends Percy spend either trying to be a normal teen or working part-time as a waiter. Friday was the day Gabe wasn't home, so he wouldn't know if Percy was gone or if someone else was coming over.

/break\

Percy was spending lunch with Annabeth, just the two of them. Annabeth had the student council meeting so she would have to stay longer. And Percy had to work, so he appreciated to get some food inside his starving stomach. They were sitting beneath a tree, Annabeth leaning against him.

"Do you think di Angelo would mind taking over your math tutoring?"

Percy blinked a couple of times and stared at Annabeth dumbfounded. "Wait... You're... why?"

"I love you, Perce, but you're hopeless", stated Annabeth with an amused smile. "Or at least I thought so, until di Angelo took over your history tutoring. Rachel told me you _already_ improved. You even know answers during class. Perhaps you just needed the _right_ one to teach you. So I was wondering if he'd mind helping you out with others too. Besides, I really have a full plate myself this year and I don't feel like _our_ study-sessions are really useful."

And it meant less time of acting like a couple, but Annabeth kept that part to herself. With how much she had to do around school, with classes, for the various clubs, it just tired her and when she was tired, she didn't really feel like putting up an adoring look and kiss him.

"Sure, I could do that", nodded Percy after a moment.

He laid one arm around Annabeth's shoulders and she snuggled up to him. He was like one gigantic teddy bear, always in for the cuddles. One day, Clarisse had bought a black and white hoodie for Percy as a joke. It had eyes sewn to the hood, as well as ears. They had claimed that a teddy bear should also look the part and since he was Luke's and Thalia's little baby, he had earned himself the nickname 'panda baby' from her. Annabeth wasn't much for cutesy little nicknames, but she had to agree with the sentiment. Percy was as cute as a baby panda and as cuddly as a teddy bear. Even though Annabeth couldn't enjoy boys in _that_ way, she liked the support and cuddles. While Percy was hugging her, her eyes were fixed on something else entirely. The cheerleaders had some emergency training – Coach Beauregard was a hard-ass and when she wasn't pleased it easily happened that the cheerleaders had to stay the whole weekend. Most thought Annabeth spend so much time watching them because her mentor and practically-sister Thalia was on the squad, but most of the time Annabeth spend trying not to drool over the native American goddess known as Piper McLean, who surely inherited her actor father's good looks – seriously, she should be a model somewhere. Mainly so because she wasn't the Barbie-type. She was a wild beauty, her hair messy and chopped short by herself, never wore make-up, but rather torn, baggy jeans. Unless it was time for cheerleading. The way those skirts flew should be _illegal_. No, seriously, it should be because those were overly sexualized minors... oh, wow those legs were amazing. Annabeth gulped.

"You and di Angelo, do you get along? I mean, is it really okay...?", asked Annabeth absentmindedly, still focusing on the way Piper moved. "I wouldn't want you to be forced to spend extra time with someone you don't get along with, Perce."

"No, it's fine. I mean, we're not friends, but he's okay", shrugged Percy with a frown. "I'm supposed to go to his place today for the tutoring. I'm kind of curious, to be honest. You've seen the di Angelo manor in the news too, after all. That thing is like a _castle_. I'm sure he has butlers or something. Heh, like Batman. Oh man, I _so_ can see him having a bat-cave!"

"You're nerding out again, please stop it", interrupted Annabeth with a fond look. "You dork."

"Sometimes I wished you were less of a book-worm and more of a 'dork' too", pouted Percy.

/break\

"You are such a _dork_", laughed Alabaster as he was laying on Nico's bed upside-down.

"I actually like it. It looks good", stated Ethan critically, walking around Nico to look at him from every angle. "We'll get that for you too. Kinky werewolf-vampire roleplay, mh?"

Nico rolled his eyes amused. They had decided to try out the make-up and add-ons for Nico's cosplay. After all, cosplaying two werewolves as humans would be boring, so Hades and Nico had gotten everything to fix their faces like the wolves from _Teen Wolf_. Alabaster's hands were like magic when it came to those things, so Nico had asked his friends to come over and help him.

"Please refrain from mentioning your sex-life. I don't need to know those things", muttered Nico.

"Oh come on, when's the last time _you_ got laid? At least live through us", grinned Alabaster, before he turned onto his stomach and smirked wickedly. "Or are you nailing Jackson?"

"Excuse me?", snorted Nico ridiculed, shaking his head. "What the actual fuck?"

"Oh come on, you and him, alone in one of your bedrooms, you the teacher, he the not-very-bright student... I'd come up with about ten different fantasies in as many minutes", stated Alabaster and rolled his eyes. "Besides, he's a jock. It's like a statistically proven fact that most jocks are closet gays. Totally, I swear. Scientists found that out. I'm sure you could... bend him some."

Nico heaved a breath and rolled his eyes. "I thought you wanted to do Hiccup and Nightmare Prince Jack for this years Comic Con? I mean, not that I'd mind the additional... pack members. Dad does Peter and we're trying to convince Bianca to do Laura Hale."

"D-o-r-k", spelled Alabaster out and rolled his eyes once more for good measure.

/break\

Percy groaned exhausted as he finally reached the large estate. Every second week, he had to work on Friday afternoon. Today was such a lucky Friday. Now he was tired, even more so due to the long walk to the di Angelo place. The gate was open, so getting to the door wasn't a problem. It was the gigantic wooden door that looked like the entrance to hell itself (seriously, there were faces and creepy stuff caved into the wood) that was the real problem.

"Uhm... Nico? Hello?", called Percy out while ringing the doorbell for the seventh time.

The door opened and both of them stared equally surprised for about a whole minute. Percy's mouth was open slightly as he stared in total awe at the sight in front of him. Nico was only wearing black sweat-pants that hang _low_ on his hip-bones, all that olive-skin bare. All those _abs_. Nico di Angelo was hiding quite the nice six-pack there. Nico was panting, sweat glistering on his delicious skin, the dark curls clinging to his forehead. The gloomy, dark-dressed Nico had been intriguing, but half-naked, sweaty Nico was about ten seconds of Percy staring at him from making Percy drool. Somehow he would have never thought that Nico was hiding _all of that_.

Nico on the other hand had his own reasons for staring. Percy's mouth was forming an O in a cute way, rosy-pink lips parted as the sea-green eyes stared at Nico in what was quite obviously lust. A reddish blush was dusting Percy's cheeks, most likely embarrassed about the thoughts inside his head (although Nico would have liked to see _those_). On top of the messy, dark hair sat a cute, frilly little cap that matched the puffy apron that was snug around Percy's waist, highlighting the curve of the boy's body. Nico's mind supplied him with pictures of Percy in nothing but the apron and the little hat. Not that those were helpful now. He blamed AlaBastard and his perverse ideas.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of working out... didn't hear the doorbell", stated Nico casually and turned around, leading the way inside. "Interesting choice of clothes by the way, Jackson."

Percy frowned confused and looked down himself to notice he was still wearing the embarrassing, frilly apron. Groaning annoyed, he blushed in embarrassment and wanted to justify himself. Before he had the chance to, any word died on the tip of his tongue and his blush intensified. Nico had his back turned on Percy and – aside from it being as well-trained and nice to look at as the front – there was a large tattoo all over Nico's back. Starting at the shoulder-blades were two black-feathered wings, the longest and last feathers disappearing beneath the pants. Down Nico's spine, right between the pair of beautifully detailed wings, ran one single line written in italics. Nico di Angelo had a tattoo. A freaking hot tattoo that turned the di Angelo into an angel. Percy could feel himself hardening a little at that. He had a thing for body-art, apparently. That was new.

"You have a tattoo", stated Percy bluntly, cursing his always-running mouth.

"How anything can escape your Sherlock-like observation skills is beyond me", drawled Nico amused, looking at Percy from over his shoulder. "I got it on my sixteenth birthday in Venice."

"What does it say? I mean, the words...", drawled Percy, mildly embarrassed by his idiocy. "Llama... uh... armor delta... What does that mean?"

Nico couldn't bite down the genuine laughter that Percy massacring Italian elected from him. "L'amore della mia vita è mio angelo custode. The love of my life is my guardian angel."

Percy's heart sped up at the sound of Nico's laughter, just like it had the first time he had heard the unique sound. But wow, Nico speaking Italian was just so amazing, he could listen to it all day.

"That's... a weird catch-phrase, dude", commented Percy with a frown.

"Don't call me dude. And it's not a 'catch-phrase'. It's... something my mother used to say", replied Nico, his voice growing soft and also melancholic-sad toward the end, at the mention of his late mother. "Whatever hardships life brings to you, it also gives you love and the love of your life is your guardian angel, the one who will always support and protect you."

"That's nice...", admitted Percy softly, biting his lower lip in awe.

"Anyway", grunted Nico as they finally reached a door after the third corridor and two flights of stairs. "That's... my room. I'd like to take a shower first, if you don't mind. Get... comfortable..."

Percy stared around in awe. The whole room was bigger than the whole apartment he shared with his dog, mother, brother and Gabe. No surprise why Nico had looked kind of claustrophobic when he had first entered the apartment. The bed was so large, it would take up more than half of Percy's and Tyson's bedroom. Black silken sheets and black curtains surrounding the bed for a sense of privacy. The whole room was dark and gloomy, but also kind of tasteful. Not like the cave of a vampire as the Stolls had jokingly suspected it to look like. Nico walked over to an ebony wardrobe – every piece of furniture was dark ebony. The Italian kept looking at Percy doubtfully.

"Stop staring so concerned", growled Percy annoyed. "I'm not gonna steal something."

"That... is entirely not why I'm staring", stated Nico truthfully. "More worried that you clumsy, flailing thing will break something and hurt yourself in the process. Sit and don't move."

Percy huffed and obliged, sitting down on the large bed. The frown melted at the softness of those sheets and the way that mattress seemed to embrace his body. He wanted to die in this bed. He barely noticed how Nico left and how time passed, he was so busy fondling the sheets. Who needed a boyfriend if he had a bed like this? Percy would marry this bed. A ringing sound interrupted his thoughts. It took a moment to notice that it must have been the door. Since he could hear the water running from next door – that bastard had his own bathroom connected to his bedroom – he decided to go and open the door. It was probably that big brother reason why they met here. Skipping back to the door – patting himself on the shoulder mentally for remembering the way – he opened the door to the proof that 'di Angelo' was Italian for 'sex on legs'. Nico, Bianca and Hazel had already made him suspicious – yes, he could admit that Bianca and Hazel, for being girls, were hot. But apparently sexiness was a gene and it had been passed on to all the children. Tall, dark and handsome, with chocolate skin and golden eyes. Golden eyes that sparkled with amusement.

"Damn, now I'm really sorry for forgetting my keys", laughed the man amused. "Gotta apologize to Nikki for interrupting his... naughty times with his hot, naughty maid."

"Eh?", grunted Percy confused, blinking a couple of times with his large doe-eyes.

Thanatos smirked and tipped Percy's head, no something on Percy's head. Right, he had been so distracted by Nico's room, he was _still_ wearing the stupid apron and the tiny hat.

"You must be Nikki's current boyfriend then, mh?", asked Thanatos, taking a long moment to look Percy up and down. "Well, you're cute enough. Sexy, little maid. I wonder how _naughty_ you are?"

"I'm Percy Jackson. Nico is my _tutor_", muttered Percy, fuming.

He whirled around and stormed back to Nico's room, tearing the apron off and picking the hat off his head, stuffing both into his bag and fishing for his history book. He was laying on his stomach on the floor, forehead resting on the book as he silently cursed his life. He jumped about two feet high when a soft, warm hand touched his sides, tickling along bare skin.

"Where did you get that bruise?", asked Nico's voice, sounding oddly concerned.

Percy twisted a little, noticing that him getting rid of the apron had riled his shirt up, revealing the nearly black bruise that ran along his left side. Putting on a fake smile, he straightened his clothes.

"Don't tell me gossip doesn't reach the Misfits?", asked Percy jokingly. "I'm in a fight club."

It was what he told others. After all, he was the captain of the swim team, he spend a lot of time close to naked. He took boxing lessons, got rough a lot, but oh you should have seen the other – at least that was what worked on everyone else. Oh, wasn't their captain strong? Everyone swooned at that, praising him and his abilities. Percy whimpered softly as Nico poked his side hard.

"Don't lie", warned Nico with an annoyed glare before laying down next to Percy. "I detest lies. If you don't want to talk about it, just say so. Don't lie to me again, or I'll kick you out and you can see who's willing to tutor you, Blofis and extra-credits be damned."

"W—What...?", asked Percy, staring at Nico with those large, sea-green eyes of his.

"If you don't want to talk about something, just say so and I won't ask again", replied Nico. "It's none of my business after all, so you're not obliged to answer me. But _never_ lie to me again."

"O—Okay...", nodded Percy, still uncomfortable with the fact that Nico had seen through his lie.

"Good", grunted Nico pleased. "Now let's try again. Where did you get that bruise?"

"I...", started Percy and took a deep breath, fake smile slipping off. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine by me", said Nico, pulling the book closer. "Now let's get back to the Victorian age."

Percy's heart was racing with nerves. How had Nico done this? How could he have known that it had been a lie? No one had ever questioned him, Luke would just pat his back in a praising manner.

Nico's mind was racing in confusion. Why would Percy lie about this? It were just a couple of bruises. Looking at Percy, he would say the other got them when he defended some poor granny's purse from evil thugs. But there had been something akin to fear in those amazing eyes when Nico had called him out on his bluff. What was the boy hiding? Nico doubted that the Golden Boy was getting bullied. What else then? Was Annabeth Chase secretly some abusive, malicious girlfriend who got off by hurting her lover? Percy surely was the type who wouldn't fight a girl.

/break\

It was about an hour later that Hades di Angelo arrived back home and found his way to the bar where his oldest son was already waiting with two bourbons, grinning at his father.

"Ciao, papà", greeted Thanatos. "Sit. Tell me more about Nikki's boyfriend."

"You know Nico despises that nickname", pointed Hades out, sitting down and looking amused at his firstborn. "And if you have information on Nico's love-life, please share them with _me_."

"The little cutie with the apron?", asked Thanatos confused, clinging glasses with his father. "Though I guess that was part of some kinky roleplay. Anyway, when I got home, this sexy maid opened the door. He was quite easy to fluster. Really adorable. Percy something-or-another."

"Mh", grunted Hades, running his finger around the rim of the glass. "Interesting. Nico told me that he was merely tutoring this Percy Jackson jock. But kinky roleplay... Well, he had always enjoyed cosplay, I guess there's not much of a leap. That reminds me, we need to get his measures."

"What?", snorted Thanatos amused, cocking one eyebrow.

"Well, of course we have to take Nico's boyfriend with us to Comic Con", pointed Hades out like it was the only natural thing to say. "So I need his measures for his Stiles-cosplay."

"With the ship, you may actually get Bianca on board", joked Thanatos amused.

Hades joined his laughter as they fell into light banter about university and how the others were.

/break\

It was a usual Friday night, once Percy had left again. Lou, Alabaster and Ethan came over for their weekly superhero-marathon. Today's topic: X-Men. They had the three Iron Man movies last week and this week, they'd tear through at least the X-Men trilogy, maybe even the Wolverine-ones.

"Okay, dude, it's no fun if you don't _help_ me making puking sounds every time Wolvy and annoying redhead number one make googly eyes at each other", grunted Lou irritated, elbowing Nico.

"What?", asked the Italian confused, rubbing his side.

The four were sitting together on the black leather couch in Nico's room, in front of his flat-screen. Alabaster was cuddled up to Ethan, but even the couple was giving Nico weird looks at this point.

"You haven't paid attention _once_. Not even when Hugh Jackman was nearly naked there!", complained Alabaster, throwing popcorn at Nico. "What's wrong, man?"

"Just... a lot on my mind", whispered Nico and shook his head. "Sorry, I'll try and focus."

Much to his surprise though did Ethan turn off the TV. "It's a movie and we've all seen it at least a dozen times now. If you have a lot on your mind, try sharing it with us. We're your friends."

Nico nodded stiffly and turned a little to face his three worried friends. "It's just... You know I value honesty, right? That people don't _lie_ to me. Even if they don't tell me everything, they shouldn't lie."

"Yeah. It's annoying as fuck", agreed Lou gravely, earning a glare. "What? Just being _honest_."

"So, what's the problem? Jackson been lying to you? Oh, don't give me that look, Nico. Aside from your family, he's the only one you saw since Ally and I had been over this afternoon", snorted Ethan and rolled his eye. "So either your family was annoying or your studying session was bad."

"It's wasn't... bad", muttered Nico, frowning. "There's just something and I told him, he doesn't have to tell me, but he also shouldn't lie. And now I feel like a hypocrite, because I _want_ to know."

"You're interested in a jock's private life? That's new", snorted Alabaster, looking stunned. "Why?"

"None of your business", growled Nico defensively. "It's _his_. And he doesn't want to share."

Ethan's frown turned from curious to concerned. "You're _worried_. You don't worry easily, Nico. So whatever is up, it must be serious. Look, I'm not telling you to tail him and play super spy, but if there's a reason for you to be worried, then maybe... confront him."

"After I made clear that I won't be chasing after his secrets?", snorted Nico with a glare.

"Well, then be subtle about it!", huffed Lou, waving her arms around. "The guy's a _jock_. I'm pretty sure you can get everything he knows out of him without him noticing."

"He's not that dumb", defended Nico, feeling his ears heat up a little as his friends snickered. "Oh, shut up about it. Can we _please_ finish the movie now? I want to get to the part where Scott dies."

"That's... two more movies to go then", pointed Alabaster out, a little amused.

"All the reason more to continue watching", stated Nico flatly.

Ethan sighed and took the remote, but before he pressed play, he felt the need to say one more thing. "Look, I really don't know _what_ it is that's making your alarm-bells go off like that and I can't even imagine what it could be, but... I wish someone would have had those alarms setting off in their head when I lost my eye. So, if... Don't drop it. Don't let anything happen to the kid."

Nico nodded stiffly and even Alabaster and Lou had solemn expressions on their faces at that. The topic was a raw and sore one still and all four of them tried to avoid it. Apparently, Nico really had been radiating concern if that was the vibe Ethan got. And Ethan was completely right. Whoever had caused that bruise was probably causing more. Maybe it had only been a one time fight and the golden boy had been embarrassed about admitting that he stooped so low, or maybe there was more to it. But Ethan was right. If Nico just stood back at the sidelines and it did turn out to be something serious, Percy could be the next one to lose an eye. Or more. And Nico was not going to have _that_ on his conscience. He just needed to find a way to confront Percy without confronting him.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Next chapter will have family moments for the di Angelos - aka Thanatos and Hades embarrassing the life out of Nico in front of Hazel, Bianca and Persephone concerning his sexy, little maid. Also, Percy will learn a shocking truth from Luke!<em>

_AND YES, at the end of this story, Nico and Percy will have a Sterek cosplay moment on Comic Con! xDDD_


	4. Chapter 4

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo, Zerberus

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 4: It's Useless to Lecture a Human_

The day had started out easy enough. Some shared classes with Annabeth, which was always great because she let him copy her notes (read: she copied them for him because she knew how much his dyslexia was bothering him) and helped him through them. Then, in the afternoon, he had training with the swim team, which always set him at ease.

"You should quit fight club", stated Will next to him as the two boys climbed out of the pool.

"He's right, one day, you're going to accidentally break something and then you'll miss out on one of our competitions for the sake of your hobby", agreed Katie as she helped them up.

Percy huffed and sat down on the floor, his legs still dangling in the water as he watched Mitchell and Austin still competing with one another. "It's not _that_ easy, Kitty-Kat."

Now it was Katie's turn to huff as she sat down next to him. "Because you're making it hard."

"Am not", protested Percy, throwing the pretty brunette a glare. "It _is_ complicated."

"That's all you ever say", snorted Will and rolled his eyes, taking a seat on Percy's other side. "You never say 'I don't want to', or 'It's too much fun', you always only say that it's 'too complicated' to quit. Look, we figure it's probably your dad's fightclub and you don't want to disappoint him and all that good-golden-boy crap of yours, _but_... we're just worried."

Percy's eyes widened stunned as he looked from Will to Katie. "W—What?"

"We may not be Luke and Thalia, or Grover and Annabeth, but we're still your _friends_, dumbass", countered Katie, punching him lightly. "Look, you can quit _everything_. You just gotta try."

"Yeah. I mean, I made Jake quit smoking and _that_ had been a fight!", agreed Will with a grin.

Percy took a long moment to stare at them softly, before he clapped both on the back in a friendly way – and then used some force to push them both into the pool again, causing them to yelp loudly. "Enough with the sappy tour. Give me ten lapses, you slackers."

While his voice was teasing, his heart was heavy. They worried about him. He had realized last week, when Nico had called him out on his bullshit, that maybe he didn't fool everyone as good as he made himself believe, but... that he _worried_ his friends...?

/break\

It was lunch-time at the di Angelo household – mind you, a little late for lunch perhaps, but with the schedules of their three teenagers, they had to adjust. Hades, his wife Persephone and the four juniors were sitting together at the table – Thanatos and Bianca on one side, Hazel and Nico opposite them. Zerberus, their pet-dog, was sitting at Nico's feet, knowing he was the most likely source of scraps at this table, his tail wagging in anticipation.

"What do you have planned for today?", asked Persephone curiously, looking at the four kids.

"I'm meeting Thalia, Phoebe and Zoe later", replied Bianca. "Club meeting."

"Chastity club, that's not much of a club", snorted Nico and rolled his eyes. "I mean, what are you doing all your meetings? Just sitting together, bitching about how all boys are evil?"

"Language, Niccoló", warned Hades, yet still a little amusement dancing in his eyes.

"It's not about boys being _evil_ – you know Thalia has a boyfriend", huffed Bianca, looking highly offended. "And for your information, we spend our time with archery."

"I for my part approve of this club", stated Hades, nodded pleased.

"Of course you do. You don't have to chase boys off our doorstep, darling", chuckled Persephone.

"Which does even out since Hazel is bringing home _two_ boys", chimed Nico with a grin.

"Oh, right. I'm meeting Leo and Frank later on", announced Hazel at that. "We wanna catch a movie. Maybe dinner afterward, depending on how late we're going to be."

"I for my part am booked", sighed Nico, frowning a little. "Tutoring the untutorable."

Bianca gave him a sympathetic look. "Poor brother. Though Percy is not a bad boy, so..."

"Yeah, if anything, we should say 'poor Percy', because Nico surely is a bad boy", snickered Hazel.

Nico rolled his eyes, refraining from giving her feedback to that stupid comment, while his older brother had the most shit-eating grin possible on his face. "Ah, that settles my plans for the day too, I guess. I'll spend the afternoon harassing Nico and his cute, little boy-toy then."

Persephone chocked on her salad and Hazel not very lady like spit her coke straight into Bianca's face, not that Bianca was in any condition to complain, because she was too shocked. Only Hades laughed, especially when he saw Nico's mortified and ridiculed expression.

"Jackson's not my boy-toy", grunted Nico after a moment, leveling a glare at his brother.

"Dude, he was wearing a cute, little maid-outfit when I came home Friday, while you two were _all alone_ in the house", snorted Thanatos and rolled his eyes. "Like fuck you're not banging him."

"Language, Thanatos!", squealed Persephone, quite flustered. "Who's this Jackson boy? Why have I never heard of him? You know you're not allowed to have your boyfriends over if we haven't even met them yet! Give me his parents' number so we can arrange dinner with them and-"

"_Mamma_!", interrupted Nico, annoyed and embarrassed. "Percy Jackson is not my boyfriend. I'm only tutoring him. He wasn't wearing some kinky roleplay shit, he came from work. As a _waiter_."

"And he's straight and in a relationship with a friend of mine", supplied Bianca mercifully.

"Oh", muttered Thanatos, his face falling, before he grinned again. "But you _want_ to bang him."

"Can we _please_ change the subject?", groaned Nico, thrusting his head down onto the table.

And straight into his salad. He groaned again, cursing the world and his family more than everything, especially so when they started to laugh at him collectively.

/break\

If Percy had thought his encounter with Will and Katie had been the most mortifying of the day, then he had _really_ underestimated his day. The student council wasn't due to meet for another hour, so he wanted to take the opportunity to check his injuries and pop some painkillers (because the last thing he needed was for Nico to get suspicious again with Percy shifting around and groaning in pain). The empty student council committee room would be the perfect place for that, because only the head and the co-leader of the student council had the keys, which meant Annabeth Chase and Octavian Simmons. And Percy regularly borrowed Annabeth's keys, so he could take naps in the room anyway, so perfect place of privacy to check himself.

"Oh, fuck, _harder_, Tav", moaned a soft and hoarse voice.

Percy just stood there, with the doorknob still in his hand, eyes wide as saucers. His friend, his _mentor_, was bend over the table, jeans down to his knees, panting hard. Behind him stood Octavian, one hand gripping Luke's hips in a bruising manner, the other hand holding tightly onto Luke's blonde, messy hair, tugging on it to the point of Luke wincing, which didn't make Octavian stop, no, it only made the Brit smirk wickedly and tug harder. Octavian leaned down, licking the shell of Luke's ear, his dark, blue eyes fixated on Percy, the smirk turning nasty.

"We got an audience, babe", whispered Octavian. "Apparently, he wants to learn _other_ things from you too... And you, little prince, close the door, will you?"

Percy gave a rather high-pitched yelp and closed the door, pressing himself against it, eyes still transfixed on the scene in front of him. "I—I... should have closed it from the outside..."

That realization had come a little too late. Luke was staring at him wide-eyed and fearful. Octavian just continued fucking the other boy, until he finished with a grunt and pulled out, tying the condom and throwing it into the trashcan. Luke was at this point past wanting to come. In fact, he felt rather turned off by the fact that the boy he considered a baby brother was watching them. So he hastily gathered his pants and pulled them up, straightening his clothes and himself.

"Percy...", started Luke, shifting awkwardly. "We... should talk about this."

"God, please, _no_!", exclaimed Percy panicked. "I don't need The Talk!"

With that, the tense atmosphere burst and both blondes started laughing. Octavian took a seat on top of the table, knees apart so Luke could stand between them, leaning against the table and the Brit's chest. Octavian wrapped his arms around Luke's shoulders, nosing Luke's golden hair.

"Fuck, you're adorable", snorted Luke and shook his head. "I'm not going to talk to you about how gay sex works, damn it. I meant... about what you saw. And that you can't tell Thals."

That made Percy freeze. He had nearly forgotten in his surprise. There was Luke's _girlfriend_.

"Y—You have a girlfriend!", exclaimed Percy high-pitched. "A—And you love Thalia!"

"I do", nodded Luke casually. "I love her a lot, but she doesn't put out. Tav does."

"It's only about the sex, Jackson", added Octavian with a shrug.

"B—But you're both _boys_", yelped Percy, completely confused.

"...And you never heard of bisexuality either", snorted Luke amused. "I do both, boys and girls. But at this school, I'm not going to attempt a _relationship_ with a guy. I love Thalia and I like being with her and being with her is good for my image. But I enjoy sex with Octavian. It's perfect."

Now Percy looked borderline disappointed. "Why would you do that? Why would you betray Thalia like that? Why can't you be _honest_. You could break up with Thalia and be with Octavian a—and... you could _change_ things. You say you can't be with a boy in this school, but... _You_ could change that. You could fight for it. Change things."

Luke heaved a sigh and pushed himself off Octavian to walk over to Percy. The look in Luke's eyes was pitying. A large hand came up to rest on Percy's head, ruffling his hair tenderly.

"Your naivety is astonishing, Perce", whispered Luke, sounding more in awe than condescending really. "Do you _really_ think I didn't try to get it through people's heads that gays aren't contagious when they started bullying my best friend? You don't change people's minds, not over night, not when they're _bigot_, stubborn and dumb? I... like being with Octavian, but I'm not going to fight a war all on my own, Percy. I _saw_ what happened with Ethan first hand. That's not worth it. I'm fine with sneaking around, next year I'll be out of high school and I can be whoever I want to be. I'm not risking my own health and safety to maybe, perhaps change things for any future generation."

Percy stared at Luke with such a heartbroken look that it actually made Luke wince. "I—I got to go now, Luke. I... I have tutoring. I'll be late. See you... on Monday."

"Percy", interrupted Luke and grasped Percy's shoulder right before he could leave the room. "This stays between us, right? You're not going to tell Thalia, or anyone else, yeah?"

"I—I may not like what you're doing, but I'm not going to be the one to break Thalia's heart by telling her", stated Percy, throwing a rather nasty glare at Luke. "But _you_ better come clean to _her_, or else I'll make you pay for hurting my friend. We both know I _can_ kick your ass, Castellan."

/break\

"Ah, if it isn't my brother's little boy-toy", was what greeted Percy when he rung the doorbell.

He wasn't even sure why they had agreed to meet up at the di Angelos again this week, but somehow Percy appreciated it. Less to hide and to be ashamed of. Thanatos was grinning broadly down at Percy, though his grin melted away at the glare he received.

"You're under the wrongful impression I'm _with_ your brother and I really don't care, but if you insist on sticking with that, at least use the term 'boyfriend'. I'm not a _whore_", stated Percy evenly.

Thanatos sobered up a little at that. "My bad, I didn't mean to insult you. Come on in."

"I like you, boy. You don't cave to Thanatos' jibes", praised the woman climbing up the stairs.

Percy frowned for a second as he walked over to the stairs himself. "Eh, thank you, ma'am."

"Persephone is enough", chuckled the woman amused. "And don't take my stepson too seriously, he likes to tease. Had been mocking Leo and Frank for coming over for _months_ before he dropped it."

"Well, but I'm not _with_ Nico", stated Percy softly. "We barely know each other. He's tutoring me because our stupid teacher decided I need better grades and he needs a social life."

That made Persephone laugh as they continued down the hall of the second floor. "A social life? I wasn't aware that teachers prescribed those these days. Well, if my kids give you a hard time, don't hesitate to rattle them out to me. You're a guest in our house and you should feel comfortable."

Percy nodded and muttered a quick thanks before entering Nico's room. The Italian was laying on his stomach on his bed. He was apparently reading a book while also listening to music, facing the window-front and thus facing away from Percy. Thanks to the headphones he hadn't heard Percy enter either. Percy slowly approached and let his eyes wander all the while. Last time he was here, he hadn't taken too much time to look around, really. He had only been able to comprehend how big, shiny and expensive everything was. Now he took a closer look. The walls were lined with shelves and a lot of glass-cases. Clutching his backpack to his chest, Percy wandered along the shelves. Dozens of books, all sci-fi and fantasy judging by the covers (Percy was not putting up with his dyslexia by reading the backsides just to check that out). The glass-cases were filled with collectibles. Mostly Batman figurines – different versions of the Joker and Batman himself, Catwoman and a couple he couldn't name (hey, he wasn't exactly into the whole Dark-Knight-stuff. Unlike Nico, because thinking about it, that did fit the other boy). And a hell of a lot of Marvel figures, much more to his delight. Percy _loved_ the Avengers. He nearly drooled at the extremely detailed versions of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Thor that stood in a half-circle on one of the glass-shelves inside the vitrine. They looked like right out of the movie. He didn't even want to know how expensive those had been. Next to the glass-vitrines with the comic heroes collectibles was another bookshelf filled with... with... _comics_. A giant shelf that ran so long, it probably would have taken the whole of Percy's bedroom wall. Completely filled with comics. Percy was pretty sure he just had a little fan-gasm. His fingers hovered over the backs of the comics, like he wanted to touch them, to pull them out, plunge down and read them all, but didn't dare to so he wouldn't soil them or accidentally damage them. He was close to a real-life orgasm when he was past the comic-shelf, because... holy freaking TARDIS, Nico had practically every figure ever made! All twelve Doctors, lined up in a half-circle in front of a TARDIS, the shelf right beneath it in this glass-vitrine filled with the companions. The other shelves were actually filled with _acted out scenes_ – like a TARDIS with the 10th Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack facing off the Master! Percy had his hands and nose pressed against the glass, breath puffing against it.

"How can you be so fucking adorable?"

Percy yelped and jumped, whirling around to face an amused smirking Nico. The Italian was cocking one eyebrow as he watched the jock, like he was seriously expecting an answer to that.

"I—I'm not adorable. Don't call me _adorable_", growled Percy defensively.

"Jackson, you've been standing in front of that vitrine for the past two minutes, chanting ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh in a high pitched voice", snorted Nico amused. "If that's not adorable, I don't know what is. Fuck, you're a _jock_, you're not supposed to be a_dork_able like that."

Percy flushed at that and crossed his arms over his chest, taking in Nico's appearance, which made the flush vanish and be replaced by a teasing grin of his own. Nico was wearing those damn, loose sweat-pants again that were riding just below his hipbones, showing off a sliver of olive-skin, he was also wearing a hooded, comfortable jacket, but that wasn't the reason he was short of bursting into laughter. The black shirt with the awesomely drawn zombie-version of Ariel was – with the words _Part of your World_ in graffiti written above it – _that_ was what made him crack up.

"Don't talk to _me_ about being adorkable while you're wearing a freaking Disney-shirt, Mister Badass!", laughed Percy, pointing at Nico. "And _The Little Mermaid_, on top of it!"

"Now that we've established that we're both dorks, should we start studying?", muttered Nico embarrassed and pulled the zipper of his jacket up to hide his shirt. "Forgot I was wearing it..."

"I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see, wanna see em dancing...", sang Percy softly.

Nico quirked his lips in a half-amused grin. The other half of the grin was in total awe. He knew Percy meant to tease him with the song, but damn, that boy had one gorgeous voice.

"Can I request songs too, or do you only play Disney?", asked Nico amused.

Percy flushed a little and shifted. "Studying. We should start studying."

"We'll do it differently today", hummed Nico with a slight grin. "I came up with something to make your oh-so dreaded pop-quizzes more fun, because _today_, we'll test you again."

And Percy hated pop-quizzes. Even if he got the stuff they were learning, he was still extremely jittery about answering questions, fearing to get the answers wrong. So Nico had spend the week to come up with a way to kill two birds with one stone. He wanted to _see_ how bad Percy's condition really was and he wanted to come up with a way to make quizzes easier for Percy.

"Strip-testing", continued Nico after a heartbeat. "I ask a question, if you answer it wrong, you gotta lose a piece of your clothing. If you answer it right... I lose a piece of mine."

"W—What would be t—the point o—of _that_?!", yelped Percy, red as a tomato.

"Well, motivation for you to get all the answers right. Because if you do, you get to see me naked", smirked Nico and wiggled his eyebrows, lifting his shirt a little in teasing. "Also, to keep you from answering wrong, because I bet the embarrassment of having to strip is motivation enough."

"I—I don't _want_ to see you n—naked!", hissed Percy with a glare. "I'm not-"

"Not finishing that sentence, yes", agreed Nico thoughtful. "You know the rules. If you lie me in the face, you can as well pack and leave. Look, I don't wanna sit down and talk feelings with you and discuss how bad it is to be stuck in the closet or shit, I don't even want you to _label_ yourself as _anything_. But I know you've been continuously checking me out, so you think I'm hot. We don't even have to talk about _that_. I'm not judging. I don't care. You're a teenager, heck, I've seen some who got a hard-on just from looking at the curve of a freaking _lamp_. Sexual attraction is no big deal, Jackson. I'm just offering this quiz. If you really don't want to..."

"No. It's, uh... okay...", mumbled Percy, obviously highly embarrassed and red-faced.

"Well, perfect. Stop standing around like a statue", ordered Nico, getting a pen and notebook.

Percy's eyes darted over to the perfectly fine couch on the other end of the room, if only for a short moment. And then he semi-confidently walked over to the large, beautiful bed and plunged down on it, collapsing backward and spreading his fingers to feel the silken sheets.

"Hello, gorgeous, I missed you", whispered Percy blissfully.

"...Thanks, I guess...", stated Nico a little startled and sat down next to him.

"N—Not you. Your bed... which doesn't sound all that much better", muttered Percy embarrassed.

Nico quirked his lips upward and waved him off. "Jackson, I _sat_ on your bed. I'd be fucking missing my bed too if I had to sleep on yours. What's your mattress made of anyway, hay?"

"You're a dick", pointed Percy out and rolled over onto his stomach.

"Let's talk royalty", interrupted Nico, lifting the text-book up some and grinning wickedly.

/break\

Roughly an hour later had Nico reevaluating the efficiency of his plan. Apparently, once he had the right tutor, the right method of learning and the proper motivation to answer correctly, Percy Jackson could _ace_ tests. So far, Percy had only lost his sneakers and socks. Four wrong answers. While Nico was down his slippers, socks, sweat-jacket, shirt, black wife-beater and sweat-pants. Eight right answers. Which translated to: Percy was practically still dressed (repeatedly wiggling his bare toes though), while Nico was down to his Batman boxer-shorts.

"Okay, next question", sighed Nico, sitting up some. "Wives of Henry VIII."

"Oh man, that's unfair", whined Percy with a pout. "They like all have the same names, aside from Jane! There were like two Annes and three Kates, or something..."

"Close enough", snorted Nico and rolled his eyes. "Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Katherine Parr. Lose the shirt, Jackson."

Percy blushed and while self-consciously grabbing the seam of his shirt, his eyes were fixated on the nearly naked body of Nico. All that olive-skinned, Italian hotness... That sixpack and those arms, the dark-dusted nipples and every time Nico would turn some, Percy caught a glimpse of that hot tattoo. Gulping hard, he pulled the shirt off and threw it onto the floor, rubbing his right upper arm where a bandage was hiding a nasty cut from a beer-bottle. The bruise on his side from last week had faded into a sickly yellow, but there were enough new ones to raise Nico's eyebrows. Percy averted his eyes uncomfortably and settled down again.

Nico all the while was as stunned by the sheer amount of bruises and cuts littering Percy's body as he was by how _drop-dead gorgeous_ that boy was. He definitely needed to get Percy out of his pants. And since he had by now caught on with Percy's apparent inability to memorize names – fascinatingly he was good when it came to places, how things looked or happened, but names? No – he decided to go with that. Skipping some pages, he went straight for the kill.

"The Russian royals, the last tsar and his family", prompted Nico, smirking to himself.

"Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, though since we stupid non-Russians can't handle Russian names apparently, he's known as Nicholas the second", started Percy, settling down some. "Since you said family, well, he's the son of Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov, Alexander the Third, and his wife Maria Feodorovna, born Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Denmark. Nikolai was married to Victoria Alix Helena Louise Beatrice von Hessen bei Rhein, better known as Alexandra Fjodorovna. They had five kids – the grand duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, as well as one son by the name of Alexei, who would have become the next tsar if not for the assassination of the whole family in 1918. Aside from the tsar's mother, she didn't die."

Nico was staring at Percy in honest awe and surprise. "W—What...? How... We didn't even..."

"Don Bluth's _Anastasia_ is probably my most favorite non-Disney film in the world, including all cool fantasy and sci-fi movies out there", admitted Percy with an embarrassed blush. "I kinda got a little bit of a thing for the Romanov family... So... yeah. I knew that beforehand."

Nico grunted irritated and stood, startling Percy a little by that. A deal was a deal and Percy had answered this one correct too. Hooking his fingers into his waistband, he was about to pull his boxer-shorts off, just to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"And you claim you're not involved with each other", grunted Hades' voice unimpressed.

"P—Papá!", exclaimed Nico with a gulp and whirled around. "W—What do you want?"

"I brought you sandwiches, but now I think I should have brought you condoms", stated Hades, placing a plate over to the bed. "I'll be in my study, listening to Mozart. Loudly. Also... don't be so rough with the poor boy, he looks worse for wear, Niccoló."

Nico groaned embarrassed and collapsed face-first on his bed just as his father left the room again. Percy was staring with eyes so wide, Nico feared they'd fall out. He rolled onto his side, looking up at the mortified jock. Nico knew he'd never live this encounter down, not from his father's side.

"How about we drop the learning for today?", sighed Nico. "Sandwiches and a movie?"

"Mh?", grunted Percy, blinking a couple of times confused, shaking his head.

"Well, you were staring at my superhero collection, so... pick a superhero movie", prompted Nico. "Besides, I'm technically naked at this point, so you win. Congratulations."

"Oh... uhm... Can we watch the _Avengers_?", asked Percy, nearly shyly as he picked his shirt up.

"You got taste, Percy", praised Nico while he started getting dressed himself.

Percy had to smile and blush at the use of his first name. It was the first time Nico had used it.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Risking that someone will pout about having to go through the story again; I changed it up a bit. I noticed that I have some trouble with my usual 5-pages-per-chapter, so I changed it up to 6 pages. Whiiich means I edited the other chapters. You don't have to go through the whole chapters, it's the partition after every last break\ (aside from the first chapter; that had gotten two additional partitions). Nooot hard to find, I'd say. _

_Also, I'm thinking of perhaps extending the story a little from its planned 10 chapters. Let's see how well I fend with that._

_Next chapter will have Nico coming closer to the truth. VERY close. Also, closer to Percy. They'll hang out as friends, not for tutoring, which will bring them more teasing from the di Angelos._


	5. Chapter 5

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo, Zerberus

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 5: Suspecting and Knowing Are Not the Same_

It was Sunday, two days after Nico's last studying session with Percy. He had to flee from the merciless teasing of his oh-so beloved family. It had not been the best of timings when his father had walked in on him getting naked in front of a half-naked Percy who was sprawled out on his bed. Hades had babbled on to the rest of the family and when Nico had gone down to dinner, a tube of lube and a package of condoms had been waiting on his plate, accompanied by a lot of snickering and teasing comments. At least his parents weren't attempting to give him the talk. After all, he had a couple boyfriends before and they were _aware_ that he was sexually active. So it was all about the poking and making fun of him now. Better than the first time around when there had been awkward conversations about what went where and the likes. Nico shuddered at the memory. He had never been able to eat a banana or a doughnut again since that afternoon.

In dire need of fresh air and the opportunity to get away from his family, Nico had leashed their pet-dog Zerberus and decided to take the giant out on a walk. The black beast was more than grateful. The walk was also beneficial for Nico to clear his thoughts. His thoughts that seemed focused on Percy Jackson, of all things. The bruises he had seen two days ago, no, regardless of how little Nico thought of Annabeth Chase, he didn't believe she would be _that_ cruel to a boy _that_ kind. But someone was beating the hell out of Percy. It wasn't just from fighting. Someone was beating him. Nico just needed to find out who. And for that, he needed to get closer to the boy, he needed to learn more about Percy. Aside from his obsession with _Doctor Who_, that his favorite Avenger was Captain America (how had Nico not seen that one coming?), that he was dyslexic and had ADHD, that he was into tattoos, loved dogs, was a good cook (as proven by his lasagna), was very good with little kids (as proven by his little brother Tyson), had a thing for the Russian royal family and loved Disney-movies. Basically nothing, really. At least nothing leading to Percy's supposed abuse.

"Mrs. O'Leary! Get back here, girl!"

Nico jumped slightly as Zerberus pulled on the leash. The dog was too big and too strong to be held back when he wanted something, so Nico found himself dragged along by the black beast. Zerberus was heading toward another large, black dog. One that looked faintly familiar. The dogs circled each other, pulling their owners in and trapping them with the leashes.

"Well, I guess you must be my Anita then", observed a light and amused voice.

"I'm never the Anita. Always the Roger", countered Nico with a flirtatious smirk.

"Oh. Uhm. Hi, Nico", grunted the other surprised as their eyes met.

Nico blinked a couple of times as he stared down at the boy trapped against his chest. Percy Jackson. Think of the devil and he would ride in on his hellhound. He absentmindedly reached one hand out to ruffle Zerberus' fur. Percy was blushing a little as he tried to free them.

"So... Let's hope we don't end up with a hundred and one puppies", added Percy half-heartedly. "Now he's a beauty. What's his name? I doubt it's Pongo."

""No, his name is Zerberus", chuckled Nico. "And you, Mrs. O'Leary? Is your first name Perdita?"

The large, kind dog just tilted her head, staring up at him curiously. Once the two teens freed themselves from the leashes, they walked together in silence for a while, without even agreeing on it. It was a nice silence, one Nico wouldn't have thought Percy to be capable of.

"You're quite far away from home", noted Nico curiously.

"I like taking long walks. They sometimes take me this far", shrugged Percy casually.

And that was it, back to silence. Nico frowned, observing Percy closely. The other had his one hand in the front-pocket of his blue hoodie, but the way it looked to Nico, it was more than casualty. He was holding his side. He looked exhausted and somewhere thoughtful. Was this some kind of ritual for Percy? To go out for a walk after a beating? Because he sure looked beaten, at least emotionally. For everything else, he'd need Percy with less clothes. Scratch that, he'd generally need Percy with less clothes. Maybe the frilly apron and the hat though. Before his thoughts had any chance to go further down that highly inappropriate route, the loud rumble of thunder interrupted them, followed by pouring rain. It was as though someone had opened the gates and decided to flood the park from above. Both boys and their dogs were drenched within seconds.

"Come on, let's go", ordered Nico irritated, grabbing Percy by the arm.

"Go?", asked Percy confused. "Dude, I live in the _opposite_ direction."

"Yeah, about an hour away, when you're on foot. I live five minutes from here. You can stay, get dried up and wait until it stops pouring", explained the Italian. "Now move that cute ass of yours a little faster, because even five minutes are fucking long in this weather. Also, don't call me dude."

"Don't call my ass _cute_!", exclaimed Percy with an irritated glare, cheeks why.

"Why?", asked Nico, a teasing grin on his face. "I'm _gay_. And I stand true to myself. So why shouldn't I point out the obvious? Pretty sure you and your little jock-friends never fail to point out which cheerleader has the hottest cleavage or something like that."

"Y—Yeah, well, I guess, but I'm not a cheerleader", huffed Percy, staggering after Nico.

"You'd look hot in a cheerleading uniform though", mused Nico thoughtful. "You're not too tall, I guess Bia's would fit you, actually... Mh... Now there's a thought..."

"W—Why are you talking _like that_?", hissed the embarrassed jock.

"Why not?", countered Nico with a shrug. "It's fun making you blush and you're such a little prude, you blush at the mere mention of sex. It's really ridiculous and adorable at the same time."

It was fun to make Percy blush, but it also had another purpose. Nico knew Percy was interested in him, but obviously uncomfortable with his own desires. So maybe Nico could get the jock used to it. And what then? Percy would leave his perfect girlfriend to be with the outcast of the school and they lived happily ever after? He needed to stop watching rom-coms with Hazel.

/break\

Nico had shown Percy to one of the guestrooms so he didn't have to wait until Nico was finished up with his own shower in his own bathroom. He had also, while Percy was under the hot water, supplied the boy with a set of dry clothes. The rest of Nico's family was out of the house, which was probably a good thing considering how much teasing he'd have gotten for bringing a dripping wet Percy home – Oh, will you share a shower? Dry him off yourself? No, he didn't need any of that.

Nico took a little longer in the shower since the mental image of Percy in nothing but his apron and hat was still clinging to his mind after his earlier musings, so he decided that jerking off now would be better than sitting there with a hard-on later. By the time he got out of the bathroom, he found a rather adorable and enchanting sight in his room. Percy was wearing a pair of Nico's sweat-pants that hung as low on the boy's hips as it did on Nico's, which gave him a nice sliver of sun-kissed abs. The pants were too short though since Percy apparently consisted to seventy percent of legs. Long, lean, toned legs that would look amazing wrapped around Nico's waist, if he may add that. The black shirt with the skull-motive however was too large and slipped off one of Percy's shoulder, baring more tempting skin. The boy was laying sprawled all over Nico's bed, pawing at the sheets like a clumsy, new-born kitten that wanted a patting. Nico was tempted to give him one.

"I start suspecting that you have a love-affair with my bed", commented Nico amused.

"Yes", purred Percy, rolling over once. "I'd totally run away with it and marry it if it'd ask me to."

"Get off the damn bed and come here", snorted Nico and rolled his eyes.

"Why?", asked Percy upset, thinking he wasn't allowed on that heavenly bed.

"Well, seeing how you were glued to my collection the other day, wanna read some?", suggested Nico, nodding toward the comics. "You were totally sucked into the Avengers, I figured we could waste some time reading comics. Or something like that, I don't know."

"Yes", exclaimed Percy, maybe a bit too enthusiastic. "Uhm, I mean, that would be awesome. I just... I _love_ watching the movie-adaptations, but I just don't have the money to spare to buy the comics. Do you have Deadpool? Because I really wanna know what all the hype is about!"

Nico offered him an amused smile as he got a couple issues of Deadpool out of the shelf and handed them to Percy. He figured with that, he'd get the boy to quiet down some. Getting a couple issues for himself, Nico led the way to the couch. They fell into comfortable silence for about half an hour and when Nico put the first issue down, he noticed Percy had already been through five.

"Idiot", grunted Nico annoyed and glared at Percy. "You're only looking at the pictures, aren't you?"

Percy shrugged, a little embarrassed and also helpless. "Well, they... tell the story?"

"You're missing all the sarcasm and sass!", growled Nico and took the Deadpool comics away.

Percy deflated a little. He had hoped that he and Nico could become friends, because he really started to like the Italian, but apparently he was too big of an idiot after all. The dumb boy who'd rather look at the pictures than read the actual words. The dumb jock, just like Nico had assumed all along. Nico was clever, sophisticated, sure he also was a sarcastic bastard, but Percy kind of liked that. He was used to others making fun of him for his inabilities, from his old schools and all, but...

"Are you coming, or do you plan on moping on the couch?", interrupted Nico's voice.

Percy blinked confused. He had expected for Nico to put the comics away, seeing as they were wasted on Percy with his dyslexia anyway. Maybe it was like Gabe said. He didn't deserve nice things. But Nico had put the comics down on the bed and was laying there himself.

"It's easier that way", huffed Nico. "So we can both look into it. Easier than sitting cramped together on the couch anyway. Now move that cute ass of yours here."

"Why?", asked Percy softly, but he found himself obeying the request anyway.

"So I can read them to you. I do a mean Deadpool impression, according to Leo", grinned Nico.

Percy's whole face lit up like a freaking Christmas tree and Nico felt himself blushing at that. How could something so simple make that boy so happy? Percy jumped onto the bed – making a gleeful sound at the way it bounced, because really, Percy Jackson was a child stuck in the body of a hot teen – and laid down next to Nico. Their sides, arms and legs were pressed closely together as they hang over the first issue of Deadpool and Nico started reading the comic to Percy.

/break\

"...That doesn't fit, Nico."

"Don't act like you'd _know_. I've done this _plenty_ of times before and I tell you, it does."

"No, it won't. It's way too _big_. It won't fit in!"

"Shut up and let me do it, Jackson. I know what I'm doing, I've done this before."

Bianca's eyes were large and her cheeks flushed as she caught part of a conversation coming from her brother's room. The door was open ajar. She turned to her older brother, who had a nasty grin on his face. It would serve them right to be embarrassed like that if they leave the door open, so he decided to burst in and ruin their fun. Thanatos pulled his phone out for some humiliating blackmail photos before motioning for Bianca to open the door completely.

"W—What... are you two doing there...?", asked Bianca stunned.

Nico and Percy looked up with large eyes, like two children caught doing mischief. In front of them laid about half of Nico's _Doctor Who_ collection and Nico was in the middle of stuffing a Dalek into the TARDIS, while Percy was holding onto the Ponds and the Eleventh Doctor.

"Uhm... How do I say this without sounding like a total nerd...? Right, not at all", muttered Percy embarrassed. "We're playing 'Dalek Asylum', but this time they're taking Clara with them. The Dalek is Clara, obviously. And then we'll reenact the rest of the season with Dalek-Clara as their companion! I'm sure she could have saved the Ponds in Manhattan."

Thanatos blinked astonished at that. He had been all about teasing Nico, but somehow, this made it less fun. A genuine smile spread over his lips as he watched the two boys play.

"Come on, Bia. We gotta go. Stuff to do. Like, writing their wedding invitations and ordering the TARDIS-themed wedding cake", snickered the oldest di Angelo heir, pulling his sister along.

"Oh my gosh, I so _want_ a TARDIS-themed wedding cake!", gasped Percy wide-eyed.

"...That was so not the point of what my brother just said", snorted Nico and rolled his eyes.

"Geek love – the purest kind of love", laughed Bianca as she followed Thanatos out.

Percy blushed when the words properly sank in (he had been too distracted by the image of a wedding cake, all in blue marzipan and with a proper little TARDIS on top). Nico chuckled.

/break\

"Let me give you a ride home."

Percy's head snapped around to stare at Nico. They had been playing with the _Doctor Who_ figures for like two hours now and the rain was long gone, replaced by bright sunshine. Percy's face fell a little at the prospect of having to return home, if he was being honest.

"No, it's fine. I can totally walk. Besides, you already did enough for me today", declined Percy.

"Yeah. And you could pay me back with some self-made dinner", agreed Nico, grinning a little. "Come on, I give you a ride, you give me a meal. It's a done deal. No protests allowed."

Percy gulped nervously. He didn't _want_ to take Nico home with him. Actually, it had been a relief that they could have their study-sessions at Nico's place now, because that meant avoiding any possible run-ins with Gabe. But Nico _had_ done a lot for him today, even if it may not look like a lot to Nico, it meant the world to Percy. Growing up, he never had real friends and back then he had been an only child, so playing like they had done earlier – just innocent, stupid playing – he never really did that before with someone else. Or that Nico had read to him, just like that, without making fun of him that he was like a little kid who needed mommy to read him a story. The mere fact that Nico had opened his home for him. They hadn't exactly been friends before today, after all. Only a bad student and his forced tutor. Nico could have as well left him in the rain.

"Okay", whispered Percy reluctantly and nodded.

Nico grinned pleased. And then he noticed the two peacefully sleeping, large, black dogs. No bike-ride. He had completely forgotten about Mrs. O'Leary and Zerberus, they had been so calm and content together that he hadn't even noticed their presence in his room. Just great.

"Okay... Uhm, don't forget your dog", started Nico, heading for the door. "Come along, Jackson."

Percy laughed softly and whistled, gaining Mrs. O'Leary's attention. The two followed Nico down the hall and to another bedroom. Nico looked constipated when he knocked on the door.

"Nico. What can I do for you?", asked Persephone di Angelo as she opened the door with a smile.

"Would you mind giving us a ride?", requested Nico, shifting some. "Please?"

Percy blinked surprised. His surprise increased when Persephone offered them a smile and joined them in the hall. Five minutes later and Percy found himself uncomfortably seated in the most likely most expensive car he had ever seen in his entire life. Uncomfortable, because he didn't even dare to put his feet down in fear of ruining the car. He was well-aware of the funny looks Nico kept giving him for that, but Percy ignored him and instead rather engaged in smalltalk with Persephone. The woman was amazing – even though she really didn't have to work what with her husband's income, she still owned a flower-shop in the city, apparently. Percy made a mental note to check it out.

"So... uhm... Thanks for the ride", mumbled Percy as they reached his apartment building.

"And what happened to that promised dinner?", asked Nico teasingly.

"I have something in the shop to do anyway. Why don't you give me a call when you boys are done and I'll be picking you up again, Nico?", offered Persephone and ushered them out.

Nico looked victorious and Percy looked miserable as Persephone drove off. Still, Percy wasn't rude enough to just let Nico stay outside after how kind the Italian had been to him today, so he just prayed that Gabe wouldn't be home. With any luck, that would be true, because Gabe had said something about a poker-night at Joe's. Still, his hands were shaking when he unlocked the door.

"Hello, honey. I started to get worried when you weren't home!"

Instantly, Percy's face brightened in a way Nico hadn't seen yet and it kind of took his breath away in a way that was so not appreciated by the Italian. The green-eyed boy basically threw himself at the pretty, but worn-out looking brunette woman. She laughed amused and hugged him.

"Mom, you're home early", grinned Percy delighted, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Ah, and you brought a friend", observed the woman amused. "Hello, I'm Sally Jackson."

"Nico di Angelo, it's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am", replied Nico, shaking her hand.

"So polite", cooed Sally with a grin. "And hansome. You must have a lot of cheerleaders chasing after you, mh? Are you on the swim-team with Percy? Or another member of the football team?"

"I used to be the half-back of our football team until last year", replied Nico politely. "But not anymore. And I do prefer the jocks to the cheerleaders, so to speak."

Percy just stared wide-eyed. How could one of the first things out of Nico's mouth be that he was gay? Percy would _never_ be brave enough to make something like that part of his introduction! He shifted nervously and looked at his mother, who just laughed a little and shook her head.

"Ah, such a loss for the girls of your generation", teased Sally. "Now, then how do you know each other? I'm sorry, I'm not up to date with Percy's social cricle, I'm afraid..."

"I'm his history, math and apparently also Latin tutor", replied Nico, giving Percy a look.

"Did you and Annabeth break up?", asked Sally stunned and turned to Percy.

"What? No", huffed Percy embarrassed. "She's just... uhm, very busy. And I kinda improved a lot since Nico started helping me, so Annabeth suggested that if it's not too much, he could take over for her too. Besides, I think Annie is thinking about joining the cheerleaders."

They had moved their conversation to the kitchen at this point, where Sally sat down with a curious hum. "Cheerleading? Annabeth doesn't really strike me as a cheerleader, Percy."

"Well, she spends an _awful_ lot of time watching them train", shrugged Percy thoughtful.

He started to get a pot and a pan out of the cabinet. Nico stood there, awkwardly, watching. And then Sally got up again and went to help Percy, just to be chided by her son, who grabbed her by the shoulders and gently steered her back to the living room, navigating her to the couch.

"No, bad mom. You, sit and relax. I'll make dinner", ordered Percy with a gnetle smile. "You're had a double-shift at the hospital. Besides, someone has to entertain our guest before he gets bored."

"You're an angel", declared Sally, kissing his cheek. "The best son on this entire planet."

The woman gave a sigh upon sitting down as though she hadn't done that in at least ten hours. Nico frowned confused and concerned as he reluctantly joined her on the couch, watching Percy retreat back to the kitchen. Not in a million years was this woman responsible for Percy's injuries. He observed her closely, how she shed her coat. She winced at one movement and seemed to favor her right side. No, if anything, she was probably as injured as her son. Both mother and son being abused left only one logical conclusion for Nico and he settled some.

"Will Percy's father join us for dinner too?", asked Nico casually. "I'd love to meet the whole Jackson-bunch. Mrs. O'Leary and Tyson already left a nice impression."

"Percy's father was a marine. He fell while I was pregnant", replied Sally, a pained smile on her lips. "And his stepfather will most likely not join us. He is with friends tonight."

Stepfather, huh? Nico watched, very closely, the way her face shifted from when she was talking about Percy's biological father – love, tenderness, sorrow, regret, sadness – compared to when mentioning Percy's stepfather – more regret, pain, even something akin to fear.

"Where's Ty then?", inquired Nico, deciding to change the topic for now.

"Neighbors", replied Percy from the kitchen. "I dropped him off before I left with Perdita."

"Perdita?", inquired Sally a bit confused.

"Oh, yes. Mrs. O'Leary got a firstname", answered Percy with a laugh. "Anyway, he's with the Graces. Uhm, they live three doors to our right. Would you mind picking him up, Nico? Oh, and if Beryl isn't home, would you ask them to come and join us too? I promised them dinner for the short-notice babysitting. Please, that would be awesome of you."

Graces? That name sounded oddly familiar. Giving a short nod, even though Percy couldn't see it, Nico stood and left the apartment. Three doors to the right and he knocked. An irritated looking punk-girl with a _Barbie should die_ shirt opened the door, all black make-up and leather pants. He recognized her face, but everything else could not be farther away from how Nico knew Thalia.

"What the fuck?", grunted the cheerleader surprised. "What do _you_ want here?"

"Percy send me to pick Ty up", replied Nico, still blinking in slow-motion.

She opened the door more, groaning annoyed. Their floor was equally littered with empty bottles as the Jacksons' had the first time Nico had been over. Nico entered reluctantly and was even more surprised to find Jason Grace playing Mario Kart with Tyson in the living room. Nico wasn't even really sure why he was so surprised. Though when he thought about it, back when he had been with the popular kids, most of those had been rich. Himself included. The Beckendorfs owned a big chain of mechanic shops all over the state, the Beauregards owned a chain of bakeries, the Castellans were the owners of a rather large travel agency.

"Uhm... hi", muttered Jason, looking as surprised as Nico felt.

"Ty. Your brother is making dinner", stated Nico, turning to the little brunette. "And apparently you two are invited too, if... Beryl... isn't home. So... uhm... Come with me?"

"Not everybody has a perfect, little family like you, di Angelo", countered Thalia a bit irritated, pushing some bottles aside. "I'm not a cheerleader by _choice_. Beryl – our dear mother – used to be a big-shot star in like the eighties. Then she had me and apparently, I ruined her career. She didn't leave me much choice when it came to ballet and cheerleading. At least I don't have to watch her drink herself into oblivion when I'm at training. So stop looking so weirded out."

He averted his eyes, partially guilty. He guessed she was right. The person someone was at school was sometimes the farthest away from the real person underneath. He turned his back on them and returned to the other apartment, closely followed by the other three. Thalia joined Sally on the couch, the two apparently knew each other pretty well, while Tyson dashed off to get his cars and continue playing with Jason. Nico sneaked into the kitchen, staying silent and observing Percy. He practically danced through the kitchen as he went through the motions.

"I feel like an asshole", stated Nico softly after a while.

"Yeah, I figured", replied Percy with a secretive smile. "You _do_ judge us jocks and cheerleaders by our extracurricular activities. Everybody has their secrets, Nico. And sometimes, putting on a brave front is how people cope with the cards life dealt us. Please stop snooping around _my_ secrets, Nico."

Nico froze and stared at the back of Percy's head bewildered. "I have no-"

"Don't be a hypocrite and lie to _me_ now, after you told me how much you hate liars", warned Percy.

He averted his eyes guiltily. "You're right. I'm sorry. For nearly lying, but not for the snooping. Secrets are one thing, Percy. But someone is _hurting_ you. And I don't like that."

Having his back to Nico prevented the Italian from seeing the wide-eyed impression and the blush on Percy's cheeks at that. Nico didn't like that someone hurt Percy? He really cared...?

"Go and tell the others that dinner is nearly ready", choked Percy out, throat a bit tight.

Nico obediently left the kitchen and returned with Jason, Thalia, Tyson and Sally. Together, they set the table and started eating dinner, pleasant small talk accompanying the meal as Jason and Percy mainly talked about their teams, Thalia interjecting every now and then.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Tbh, I had planned on the Graces being rich brats again, as I do often, with dad!Zeus and evil-stepmother!Hera, but after reading BoO, I figured it's time to use Beryl some too.<br>_

_Next chapter will have much embarrassed and confused Nico, because Percy now officially sees them as friends. And, of course, Percy Jackson would want to sit with his friends during lunch. Now what's Nico supposed to do with all the jocks and cheerleaders at his otherwise lonesome and perfectly quiet table...? Also, Nico obviously does not back off from Percy's secret._


	6. Chapter 6

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo, Zerberus

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

**The Prince of Atlantis High**

_Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets_

_Chapter 6: The Real World is Where the Monsters Are_

Nico was normally sitting with Alabaster and Ethan, unless those two sneaked away with the key from Janitor Bob – it was very good to befriend the janitor – to make out in the supply closet. Today was such a day. So with Alabaster and Ethan being gone to make out, Nico was sitting alone and eating alone. He was used to it. Back when Hazel had joined the school, she used to sit with him, but nowadays she preferred to sit with her friends. He didn't judge her for it, after all those two saw each other every day all the time. And Nico didn't mind being alone.

"Oh, that looks totally delicious. You wanna trade half your sandwich for some cookies?"

Blinking a couple of times, Nico looked up. Percy was sitting opposite him, leaning over the table to take a closer look at Nico's lunch. He had a lunch box with blue chocolate chip cookies in front of himself. When Nico opened his mouth to protest – to the food-trade and the fact that Percy Jackson was sitting at his table – he got a cookie stuffed into his mouth.

"That is totally mean, dude. Why are you feeding him but you denied me any cookies?", whined another voice as Grover Underwood suddenly sat down next to Percy. "That's so not fair."

"He's giving me half his sandwich for it", shrugged Percy and just _took_ Nico's lunch.

But Nico was still too busy chewing the giant chocolate chip cookie to protest. Grover's girlfriend Juniper, the leader of the garden club and one of the cheerleaders, sat down on Grover's other side, not minding Nico at all as she leaned over to kiss Grover and start chatting with him. The moment Nico swallowed the cookie down, another jock sat down at his table. Jason Grace, also accompanied by his girlfriend Reyna, who was on the student council as far as Nico knew.

"So we're sitting with Nico today?", asked Jason confused before turning to Nico. "Hey, Nico."

"Well, _I_ am sitting with Nico", countered Percy with a shrug. "You don't have to."

"Not saying that I mind!", said Jason and rolled his eyes. "Just... something new, I guess."

"_Why_ are you sitting with Nico?", growled Nico irritated.

"Because we're friends", shrugged Percy, like it was the most obvious thing to say.

"That's not how things work!", hissed Nico, gesturing a little around. "I sit _alone_. Not with jocks!"

"There you go again, being a total racist against jocks!", huffed Percy, rolling his eyes.

"Jocks aren't a race, dude", snickered Jason, elbowing Percy and stealing a cookie.

"Whatever", pouted Percy, sticking his tongue out.

"Hey, guys! Why are we sitting here today?", asked Chris as he, Travis and Connor joined.

Nico groaned and slid down on his chair some. Percy grinned at him and handed him another cookie while the other jocks got comfortable. What was _happening_ here?

"Hey, di Angelo. Haven't really seen you around since you quit the team", greeted Travis.

"Yeah, well... I'm not the social type anymore", stated Nico eerily calm. "I'm not the an eye for an eye kind of guy, but I'd rather avoid any conflict at all."

Travis and Connor exchanged a look. They had both been on the team when it had happened. Both looked very guilty, surprising Percy a little. He knew them, he really liked them.

"Yeah, what happened back then wasn't okay. But honestly, what were we supposed to do?", shrugged Connor with a frown. "We're only teens too. I'm not messing with someone who doesn't mind taking an eye, even if it was by accident."

"Besides, the guys got kicked off the team", added Travis, stealing one of Percy's cookies.

"Because Mister Brunner had to do _something_. Someone lost an eye", growled Nico defensively. "Great that _that_ had to happen for him to do something against the jerks who had been bullying Ethan for being gay and that for months. Just like the rest of this school. Looking away is enough."

Silence fell, an uncomfortable, awkward silence. Percy sighed a little depressed. He had hoped to somehow bring Nico together with his friends so he could hang out with all the people he liked, but apparently that wasn't an option. And Percy wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"You're right", stated Reyna suddenly, voice calm and serious. "But you're not blameless either."

"What?", asked Nico surprised, looking at her and blinking a couple of times.

"Well, what did _you_ do? And I'm not talking about any testosterone loaded action of fighting. You, Alabaster and Ethan just decided to drop out of our school's social system, instead of _fighting_ for your place in it. Joining the student council team, founding a PFLAG club, anything. No, you just stick your heads into the ground and bitch about how no one fights for you. Why should they, if you don't fight for yourselves?", countered Reyna, cocking one elegant eyebrow.

Nico stared at her as though he wanted to will her to keel over. For a moment, Percy even expected him to throw a punch, but then Nico just stood and marched out of the cafeteria. That much for his attempt at being friends with everyone. Pouting a little, he munched on his last cookie.

/break\

Percy was sitting in McDonald's with Will, Katie, Malcolm and Annabeth after the swim-team finished training that day. The two blondes had decided to pick up their respective partners and Will had just decided to tag along too. While Will and Malcolm were discussing the next football game and how high they deemed their team's chances of winning, Katie and Annabeth were talking about the chemistry test they had tomorrow. Only Percy was sitting there, poking his burger.

"Perce? Are you alright?", asked Will after a while. "You haven't even touched your milkshake yet."

"Mh? Yeah. I'm fine", sighed Percy, looking like a lost puppy.

"Sure about that, Mister Grumpy-pants?", inquired Annabeth, nudging her boyfriend.

"It's just... I wanted to, I don't know, work Nico into my social circle", shrugged Percy, clinging onto his milkshake. "He's a great guy and he deserves a lot of friends and I thought, maybe he could get along with my other friends. But it was a total disaster... in the end, he stormed out without another word and we haven't spoken for the rest of the day..."

"Then send him a text or something. Apologize", suggested Malcolm. "You say he's a great guy, that means you like him the way he is, doesn't it? So you don't need him to join the swim team or get along with the other jocks, do you? Isn't it enough to just be friends with him?"

Percy stared at the blonde thoughtful, until a bright smile lit up his face and he took a large gulp of the milkshake. "You're right, I'll text him. Thanks, Mal. Man, I'm starving."

The other four laughed heartedly at that and Katie shook her head fondly, ruffling Percy's hair. "Everything's alright as long as you have your appetite."

/break\

"Lover's quarrel?"

Without looking up from his bed, Nico showed the other one both his middle-fingers. Thanatos chuckled at that and walked over to sit next to Nico on the bed. He leaned down to ruffle his baby brother's hair. Trying to swat Thanatos' hand away, Nico sat up. Bianca laughed as she too entered the room and sat down on Nico's other side, patting his head patronizingly.

"Thany is right. You do look like you and Percy had a fight", agreed Bianca amused.

"We didn't fight", countered Nico, still looking grumpy. "It was more like... He's an idiot. He just sat down at _my_ table today, bringing all his jock-friends with him. And then _Reyna_ dared to say that it's our fault that the school's not equal enough, because we're not fighting for our _own_ rights."

Thanatos and Bianca exchanged a look, one that was not appreciated by Nico. Was it really asking too much to _get_ acceptance because they were all equal in the end? Was it truly necessary that he had to fight for the most simple and basic rights?! Nico heaved a long-suffering sigh. _Someone_ had to start to fight and maybe, just maybe, he did have to fight for himself. What a pain in the ass.

"I overreacted", muttered Nico annoyed, talking to himself.

"Define 'overreacted'?", asked Bianca slowly.

"I growled at him for sitting with me and in the end I kinda... ran out like a pouty child..."

"Flowers and chocolate", stated Thanatos seriously. "Every time I do something dumb and Triton is angry with me, I buy him a bouquet of forget-me-nots and a lot of chocolate."

"Who's Triton?", chorused Bianca and Nico stunned.

"My roommate with benefits. But... judging by the amount of flowers and chocolate I buy, I guess we already surpassed that stage and entered the boyfriend-stage", replied Thanatos thoughtful. "He's cute, you know? Actually... Percy reminds me of him. A lot. Huh, weird."

"H—How do we not know that you have a boyfriend?!", stammered Bianca scandalized.

"How do I not know that you're gay?!", added Nico a little irritated.

"I'm not gay. I'm in college. I'm experimenting. And all that studying doesn't leave a lot of time to hook up, much less go on dates and build a real relationship. Tri and I just started fucking out of convenience, I guess. Not having to leave the room to even find someone willing to hook up with, not having to put up with all those annoying and most of the time expensive courting rituals...", shrugged Thanatos. "Besides, I just said we're officially just friends with benefits."

"Okay. You", started Bianca, glaring at Nico. "Get everything with Percy sorted out. We like him. If you chase him away, you're in trouble, mister. And you-" This time, she turned to glare at Thanatos. "I want to see pictures. And I demand details. And a meeting. Come with me, now."

Thanatos grunted as he was being pulled along and out of the room by his demanding younger sister, leaving Nico alone and a bit confused. How was he supposed to apologize to Percy? As though his phone had heard his thoughts, it suddenly started to make a TARDIS sound. Startled, Nico jumped. When he checked who was interrupting his important thoughts, he saw a text.

_Sorry bout earlier. Pls dont be mad, I'll make u cookies? ;3_

Nico stared down at his phone in total awe. How adorable and sweet was Percy to apologize for doing nothing wrong? That explained why this cute boy was stuck with _someone_ abusing him. Sighing, Nico got up and started pacing the room. He had to do something to make up for being a moron and an asshole. His eyes caught the package sitting on his table. Right. Yesterday, his 50th Anniversary comics from _Doctor Who_ had arrived and he hadn't even opened amazon's package yet because he wanted to open it when Percy came over for their next studying session. Maybe Nico could surprise Percy and pick him up and they could just hang out and read comics? He knew for a fact that Percy didn't work today and swim training had been over for an hour now. Nodding to himself, he got up and grabbed his helmet. Time to get himself a Percy and apologize to the jock.

/break\

Percy was sobbing silently to himself. He knew how to not make a sound, because crying only agitated Gabe further. Curling together in a tight ball, he shielded his face as Gabe kept kicking him, slurring insults at him. Not that those truly hurt anymore. He had learned to tune them out, like the sound of the streets at night. Eyes squeezed shut, he did what he always did. Flee into his dream-world. A world where he could be gay, where he could _have_ a knight in shining armor, rescuing him from this disgusting monster and holding him until the world was alright again.

It took him a few moments to realize that the kicks had stopped. It took him a couple more moments to slowly lift the arms off his face and take a reluctant look. What he saw surprised him.

His stepfather was laying on the ground, holding his face. Above Gabe stood Nico, a murderous expression on his face, fist still in the air, as though he was ready to punch the man again.

"What the fuck, punk?", growled Gabe as he made motions to get up again.

"You should _really_ stay down if you don't want me to hit you again", growled Nico back.

He had walked up to the apartment to find the door unlocked. Actually, he had planned on giving Percy a good preaching about security and this neighborhood, but then he entered and found the most vile thing possible. A disgusting, fat man, leaning over Nico's Percy and kicking the boy who was already curled together on the floor. So Nico did the most obvious thing. He hit the bastard who dared to touch the cutest, sweetest, kindest person Nico had ever met.

"N—Nico... W—What...", stammered a soft, insecure voice behind the Italian.

The disgusting guy got up, sneering. "You little fucker, finally got yourself someone to protect you because you're not man enough to fight your own fights? Always knew you were a useless little pansy. What? You let him fuck you up the ass and he fights for you, fag?"

He didn't stay up long, because Nico's fist had the immense urge to connect with his jaw again. This time around, the guy went down with a loud thump and stayed down. Checking for a second if the bastard was really unconscious (and fighting the urge to kick him again, because unlike that jerk, Nico didn't need to kick someone who was already on the ground – but he _really_ wanted to right now). Once he had that checked, he whirled around to check on his Percy. Reaching out with one hand to cup Percy's cheek, he watched with horror how Percy actually flinched away from him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to keep in mind that Percy wasn't afraid of him, that it was because of what had just happened. Because of that worthless bastard laying on the ground. No, not important now. What was important right now was getting his Percy out of this place.

"Can you get up?", asked Nico softly. "Walk? How many fingers do you see, Perce?"

"...You need to actually hold fingers up for that last question", muttered Percy with a deadpan and stood. "L—Look, I'm fine. Just... leave again. Please. Forget anything you saw."

"He must have caused you some serious brain damage if you actually believe I'll leave you here, bleeding on the ground with that bastard laying five feet away", grunted Nico ridiculed.

"You can't stay", sighed Percy annoyed, shifting his weight and favoring his left foot.

"Well, good we agree. But neither can you, Perce", stated the Italian seriously and walked up to Percy, laying one of his arms around the other. "Come on, I'll help you down the stairs. Ty?"

"Over at the Graces...", answered Percy, reluctantly following Nico.

He knew he was not getting out of this again. Nico was a stubborn bastard and maybe, if he stayed with Nico right now, he had a chance to talk to the Italian and convince Nico to not say a word.

/break\

The drive back to Nico's had been a bit awkward, but Nico had made sure to hold onto Percy. Once back at the mansion, Nico hadn't even given Percy a chance to stumble along. The olive-skinned boy just hoisted Percy up into his arms, carrying the jock bridal-style. On the one hand, Percy wanted to protest about being treated like that. Another part of him, one far louder and more demanding, was preening at the attention, ridiculously happy that Nico _cared_, had fought for him, was carrying him, was still constantly asking him how he was feeling.

"Uhm, okay. You... just, stay there, don't move. I'll get the first aid kit, something frozen and cold for the bruising and... Are you hungry or thirsty or do you need anything else?", asked Nico.

"I'm fine. I don't need any of the stuff you just listed", sighed Percy annoyed.

Nico just snorted and left to go to the kitchen. He had a first aid kit in his own bathroom, so he went straight for the peas. That would be easier if not his whole family was gathered around the table, eating cake and drinking hot chocolate and coffee. Opening the fridge, he tried to ignore them.

"Where are the frozen peas?", asked Nico reluctantly after a moment.

"Second drawer. But why do you want peas now?", countered Persephone. "Have some cake."

"I want them for Percy", sighed Nico annoyed, grabbing the bag of peas.

"Ew. No. We're having those for dinner tomorrow – don't use them for your weird sex-stuff!"

"Really, Hazel?", grunted Nico, glaring at his younger sister. "It's not like that. It's..." He paused for a second, knowing it wasn't his secret to tell, but also knowing that Percy _needed_ help, whether he wanted it or not. "Would you mind walking with me, father?"

Hades exchanged a short, confused look with his wife, picking another last strawberry off his cake before getting up and following his son. Only when they were out of listening-range from the kitchen did Nico turn to his father. The serious expression on Nico's face sobered Hades up fast.

"Okay, what's wrong with Percy?", asked Hades, resting one hand on Nico's shoulder.

"His stepfather is... abusing him. And his mother, or at least I suspect that", answered the younger di Angelo softly. "Percy doesn't want anyone to know. But... Please help him, papà. Can you... talk to his mother? I know you did some divorces. I think Percy's mother is afraid of what she may lose then and I think Percy is afraid of what his mother will have to suffer through if others know."

Hades stared at his son surprised. He wouldn't have expected any of that. Percy was such a cheerful and happy young man. He tightened his grip on Nico's shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"I will take some time to talk to Missus Jackson tomorrow", nodded Hades. "Make sure you take good care of Percy. If there's something serious, please come and get me and we'll drive him to the hospital. Other than that, he can spend the night here."

"Thanks, papà", mumbled Nico and pulled Hades into a tight hug.

Hades nodded one last time before they parted. When Nico entered his room, he panicked for a second, because there was no Percy on his bed anymore. But then he heard something in the bathroom. Walking over to the bathroom, he entered without knocking. Percy was sitting on the toilet-seat, down to his boxers and already taking care of his injuries with the first aid kit.

"Christ, Jackson. Let me take care of that", grunted Nico annoyed and knelt down in front of Percy, grabbing his hurt right ankle carefully in his hands. "Here, take the peas for your sides. And tell me, honestly. Is anything broken? Or are there only bruises? What hurts the most? Honest, please."

"It's just bruises. Nothing broken. Ankle hurts, but it's no more than a sprain. I know what broken feels like, that's not it. Honestly, Nico", answered Percy softly, blushing a little.

He was holding the peas against the dark-blue bruises on his right side. Sea-green eyes watched curiously how Nico spread some balm on his ankle before wrapping it with tender hands. Nico was so careful, treating him like a breakable and precious thing and it felt _so good_.

"Good. That's a relief", nodded Nico slowly, staring down at the foot in his hands.

"Why... Why were you even there...?", asked Percy in a small voice.

"I... Fuck, it seems so ridiculous right now", grunted Nico, shaking his head. "I was being stubborn this morning and you were apologizing for nothing, so I was feeling guilty for having been a jerk. I got the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary comics and I wanted to pick you up, kidnap you to read them with you. To make up for having been a bad friend earlier, you know. And then I entered your apartment and saw this... this... monster, attacking you. He's your stepfather, isn't he?"

Percy averted his eyes, lips caught between his teeth. He never wanted to talk about this with anyone ever. But now Nico knew and... now that Nico knew anyway, he could as well talk to him, right? Maybe set him straight, that this is none of Nico's concerns, that Nico didn't have to run to the cops or anything. And if he was being honest, he desperately wanted to talk to someone about all of this, but there had never been anyone there. He was bursting with all of these feelings, so before he could even really sort out what to think, he was collapsing against Nico's chest, sobbing and clinging onto Nico for dear life. The Italian, albeit surprised at first, hastily wrapped his arms around the jock and pulled him into a close hug, rubbing circles on Percy's back.

"H—He wasn't always as bad. When I was small, he was okay. But then he started drinking and gambling and when he gambled and lost, he drank even more and when he drinks, he gets more agitated and... one day, he started to take it out on me...", sobbed Percy, face buried in Nico's neck.

"Why haven't you told anyone? Your mother? The police? Annabeth?", asked Nico softly.

"C—Can't", mumbled Percy, practically sitting on Nico's lap at this point. "W—What if they blame my mom for it? F—For not noticing... I—I saw it on TV, that they take the kids away from abusive homes, to stay in foster care or something... I can't lose my mom. A—And then we took Ty in and I have to protect him too a—and... I just... I just want someone to hold me and _save me_."

After that, the tears took over Percy's ability to talk. He was just crying and sobbing, with Nico whispering soft and soothing words into his ear. Nico knew in that moment that he would move heaven and hell to save this boy. And Sally, Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary. None of them deserved an abusive bastard who hit them and insulted them. Once Percy was a little calmed down, Nico gathered him in his arms again to carry him to his bed. He then went to his closet to pick out two pajamas. When he turned back to his bed, he saw Percy, all battered and bruised, curled together into a tight ball.

"Here. Get changed for the night", ordered Nico, throwing his _Batman_ pjs onto the bed. "You're staying the night. You are not under any circumstances returning there tonight, don't even try to argue with me, Jackson. Because I swear to you, I will tie you to that bed if you argue."

Percy blushed brightly at that, reluctantly grabbing the pajama and getting changed. There was no point in arguing with Nico. Sea-green eyes darted over to Nico, who got changed himself. That sixpack and those arms and all that bare skin. Percy had the urge to run his fingers through Nico's happy trail, the curls as messy as those on his hair. His face lit up dark pink at those thoughts.

"T—Thank you, Nico... For taking care, for letting me stay, for not...", started Percy softly. "For not commenting on how weak I am, letting Gabe do this to me... I—I know it's pathetic and..."

"You, shut up now. Tying you up is an option and so is gagging you, if you keep talking bull", warned Nico seriously and grabbed his package from the table. "You're not weak. You're the strongest person I know, Percy Jackson. You have a smile for everyone, you're willing to help everybody, you're there for all your friends, for your family, for anybody who could need a pep talk or help. You take his punches and his... words, I doubt that was the first time he insulted you like that, but still you're all bright and cheerful and... and I may now realize that it's not what you really think of yourself if you truly think that you're pathetic, but I _know_ you aren't. You're amazing."

"Please stop talking before my face explodes", requested Percy, face cherry-red. "You don't..."

"I mean it. I mean every word about it. You're a great son, a wonderful brother, the most amazing friend anyone could want and if a lesbian is clinging desperately to her relationship with you, then damn, you gotta do something right as a boyfriend too", chuckled Nico, sitting down on the bed.

"...Lesbian?", asked Percy with a dumb expression on his face.

"Oh, how can you be so cute?", snorted Nico, getting more comfortable and pulling Percy up against his side. "The only part about cheerleading that Chase is interested in is Piper's ass."

"That would explain _so much_", whispered Percy in awe, looking like all the pieces of a puzzle he had been working on for a while just fell into place. "Like, seriously a lot. Wow. Mind, blown."

"Okay. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm done with the heavy stuff for today. After watching you getting kicked like that, I want to go to a happy place. Care to join me in the TARDIS?", asked Nico playfully, sneaking an arm around Percy's waist, pulling him close. "It features all Doctors."

The way those sea-green eyes sparkled at that was amazing. They were still puffy after crying and one of them was slowly bruising, but for one day, Nico has had enough sad and hard stuff. He just wanted to know Percy close and safe right now, maybe hear him laugh again. There were still a million questions Nico wanted to ask, but not today. He honestly hoped half those questions would be taken care of by Hades and that Sally would be able to grab the kids soon and leave.

"Please don't tell anyone", requested Percy, barely audible, cheek against Nico's chest.

"I told my father", admitted Nico, because he was honest. "He's a lawyer. He'll help you and your mom getting out of there, because I can't stand by, watch you getting hurt. No more, Perce."

Percy just stared up at him with large, hopeful eyes. "T—Thank you... Thank you, Nico."

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: There it is! Nico knows the truth! Now, next chapter will have Hades fulfilling that promise and talking to Sally. Also, Percy spends a whole day with the di Angelos!<em>

Side questions, concerning that planned Teen Wolf cosplay in the last chapter of ths story. So I basically covered the whole pack, but then I noticed, I can't decide what character would fit for Scott. Which PJatO character would be your perfect Scott?


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